Year: 2013

Great Behavioral Tasks can Validate Mouse Models of Autism

December 6, 2013

In this post I want to discuss an example of when behavioral testing on a mouse model of human disease is done entirely correct. In this case, the right task was chosen for mice, and was developed in very close collaboration with the clinician whose work in humans was being modeled by the mice. This approach, called endophenotyping, actually studies non-core features of autism in a mouse model, but rather models cognitive processing in human autism using a mouse model. … More Great Behavioral Tasks can Validate Mouse Models of Autism

My Perspective on Brain Donation in Science…From Experience

December 4, 2013

I saw a press release yesterday from the NIH that the Neurobiobank initiative was moving forward. This initiative intends to drum up public interest and knowledge of tissue donations for science, and particularly brain donations for use in the study of genetic disease. I commend this effort, but I feel there are some insights the larger public and scientific community may not know that I may provide from having access to and working with these tissues over the past 6 years or so.

… More My Perspective on Brain Donation in Science…From Experience

Why I Study Science…and Where I Stand Moving Forward

November 30, 2013

It is actually rather simple to explain why I am in science. To be perfectly blunt, it is the culminated experiences I have had with my late twin brother Kyle who was autistic. My future scientific directions and decisions in life are shaped by what time I had with Kyle, and particularly by his death. … More Why I Study Science…and Where I Stand Moving Forward

Benevolent Sexism is just Sexist. So Stop It!

November 20, 2013

So this post comes from a conversation I was having with my wife a few weeks back and a recent conversation on social media about a student being called a bitch by an authority figure in public that precipitated this post. An important note for this post is that I will be talking about language and thus will be using language some, hopefully most, may deem offensive in some way. I promise I am using it to make a point, not to delight in vulgarity.

… More Benevolent Sexism is just Sexist. So Stop It!

Translating Between Human and Mouse Behavioral Neuroscience.

November 4, 2013

So in this post I am going to talk about a couple of invited chapters I have recently written. The general point of these two articles is that it takes very careful task selection to appropriately model the cognitive sequelae associated with human genetic disease in rat and mouse models. If this sounds familiar, it is because I have written about this general theme before

… More Translating Between Human and Mouse Behavioral Neuroscience.