SANS is launching the Get to know your SANS ExCo webinar series during Brain Awareness Week and our first speaker is Dr De Wet Wolmarans who will be presenting his research to us on the 17th of March 2021 at 13:00. Join us!
Deer mouse behaviour as a window on behavioural persistence and compulsivity
De Wet Wolmarans (Ph.D.)
Chair: Translational Neuroscience and Neurotherapeutics, Department of Pharmacology, North-West University, Potchefstroom.
Compulsivity is a prevalent and debilitating symptom which is characterised by intrusive thoughts and repetitive, persistent and overly inflexible behaviour. Animal models of such behavioural phenotypes arguably have the potential to contribute to our understanding of how these behaviours manifest and what they mean for our overall ability to function properly. Deer mice (Permomyscus maniculatus bairdii) variably present with both stereotypic and inflated, seemingly goal-directed behaviours which occur naturally and are reminiscent of clinical compulsivity. Moreover, the range of repetitive deer mouse behaviours observed, may be representative of different compulsive-like phenotypes. This talk will briefly review some key aspects of deer mouse behaviour that have been described prior to 2018. We will further take a closer look at some of the more recent advancements in the model and what these findings could mean for our understanding of clinical conditions that are typified by such symptomology.
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