Dulac aims to identify neurons activated during fever episodes and reveal how they may modulate neural circuits governing social interactions in mice. She also plans to study behavioral changes in autism mouse models during febrile periods.

Anna Penn will assess cerebellar white matter and circuitry alterations in a new mouse model that lacks placental expression of the neurosteroid allopregnanolone. These changes will be compared to those observed in mouse models of ASD risk genes to identify common circuits that are fundamental to the expression of behavioral deficits relevant to ASD.

Markus Meister will detect and analyze abnormal circuit functions of the retina in mouse models of autism in order to draw links between autism genes and neuronal circuit processing.

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder experience difficulty integrating across sensory modalities, such as sight and sound. Multisensory integration is particularly prevalent in the subcortical superior colliculus, yet studies to date have not investigated its potential contributions to ASD. In this study, Feinberg plans to test the hypothesis that superior colliculus multisensory integration is altered in mouse models of ASD.