A First Step in Treating Stereotypy?

The abnormally repetitive behaviors known as stereotypies present therapeutic challenges in many psychiatric disorders (e.g., autism, mental retardation, and schizophrenia). In this animal study using genetically intact and genetically modified mice, researchers investigated which dopamine receptors are involved in preclinical models of stereotypy, an important basis for developing receptor-specific drugs. Researchers compared stereotypy, brain dopamine levels, and induction of c-fos mRNA (a measure of neuronal activation) in wild-type (WT) mice littermates and dopamine-deficient (DD) mice. The DD mice were bred to lack the gene for the enzyme needed for dopamine production but still had intact dopamine neurons.

Various doses of the dopamine…