1. Working-for-Food Behaviors: A Preclinical Study in Prader-Willi Mutant Mice.
- Author
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Lassi G, Maggi S, Balzani E, Cosentini I, Garcia-Garcia C, and Tucci V
- Subjects
- Animals, Decision Making, Mice, Mice, Inbred C57BL, Prader-Willi Syndrome genetics, RNA, Small Nucleolar genetics, Reaction Time, Feeding Behavior, Prader-Willi Syndrome physiopathology
- Abstract
Abnormal feeding behavior is one of the main symptoms of Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS). By studying a PWS mouse mutant line, which carries a paternally inherited deletion of the small nucleolar RNA 116 (Snord116), we observed significant changes in working-for-food behavioral responses at various timescales. In particular, we report that PWS mutant mice show a significant delay compared to wild-type littermate controls in responding to both hour-scale and seconds-to-minutes-scale time intervals. This timing shift in mutant mice is associated with better performance in the working-for-food task, and results in better decision making in these mutant mice. The results of our study reveal a novel aspect of the organization of feeding behavior, and advance the understanding of the interplay between the metabolic functions and cognitive mechanisms of PWS., (Copyright © 2016 by the Genetics Society of America.)
- Published
- 2016
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