The role of NMDA receptor in anterior cingulate cortex-caudate putamen circuit performance, Involved in autistic-like behaviors induced by maternal deprivation

1. BackgroundEpigenetic agents, such as maternal deprivation during neurodevelopmental period of life, can result in changes in various regions of the brain and induced psychological disorders such as autistic-like phenomena. This study investigated the alteration of NMDAR1 density in caudate putamen (CPu) as a main behavior regulator region of brain in adult autistic-like after chronic stimulation of anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) via optogenetic technique. 2. Method In order to make an animal model of autism, neonates were deprived from their mothers for 10 days (PND1-PND10, 3h/day). Subsequently in PND50, they bilaterally received (pLenti-CaMKIIa-hChR2 (H134R)- mCherry-WPRE) virus in ACC area via stereotaxic surgery. After 22 days, these regions were exposed to blue laser (473 nm) for six consecutive days (15min/day). In the following day, autistic-like behaviors were testedand compared with control group. The animals were immediately killed and their brains were prepared for tissue processing. 3. Results This study showed that maternal deprivation stress causes autistic-like behaviors via overexpression of NMDAR1 in the CPu regions of adult rats compare with control group. Chronic optogenetic stimulation of ACCneurons (ChR2+) led to significant reduction in the appearance of stereotypical behavior and fear of strangers in autistic-like adult rats. The amount of NMDAR1 expression in CPu were reduced after this treatment. 4. Conclusions elevation of NMDAR1 levels, enhanced the effect of ACC projection on CPu, a contributing factor in theoccurrence of autistic-like behaviors. This is improved autistic-like behavior a day after the duration of optostimulation of ACC neurons via reduction of these protein density.