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Coexistence of perseveration and apathy in the TDP-43Q331K knock-in mouse model of ALS-FTD.

Published version
Peer-reviewed

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Authors

White, Matthew A 
Phillips, Benjamin U 
Lopez-Cruz, Laura 
Kim, Hyunjeong 

Abstract

Perseveration and apathy are two of the most common behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSDs) in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis-frontotemporal dementia (ALS-FTD). Availability of a validated and behaviourally characterised animal model is crucial for translational research into BPSD in the FTD context. We behaviourally evaluated the male TDP-43Q331K mouse, an ALS-FTD model with a human-equivalent mutation (TDP-43Q331K) knocked into the endogenous Tardbp gene. We utilised a panel of behavioural tasks delivered using the rodent touchscreen apparatus, including progressive ratio (PR), extinction and visual discrimination/reversal learning (VDR) assays to examine motivation, response inhibition and cognitive flexibility, respectively. Relative to WT littermates, TDP-43Q331K mice exhibited increased responding under a PR schedule. While elevated PR responding is typically an indication of increased motivation for reward, a trial-by-trial response rate analysis revealed that TDP-43Q331K mice exhibited decreased maximal response rate and slower response decay rate, suggestive of reduced motivation and a perseverative behavioural phenotype, respectively. In the extinction assay, TDP-43Q331K mice displayed increased omissions during the early phase of each session, consistent with a deficit in activational motivation. Finally, the VDR task revealed cognitive inflexibility, manifesting as stimulus-bound perseveration. Together, our data indicate that male TDP-43Q331K mice exhibit a perseverative phenotype with some evidence of apathy-like behaviour, similar to BPSDs observed in human ALS-FTD patients. The TDP-43Q331K knock-in mouse therefore has features that recommend it as a useful platform to facilitate translational research into behavioural symptoms in the context of ALS-FTD.

Description

Funder: Motor Neurone Disease Association (MNDA); doi: https://doi.org/10.13039/501100000406


Funder: the Lady Edith Wolfson Fellowship Fund, the van Geest Foundation

Keywords

Aged, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Animals, Apathy, DNA-Binding Proteins, Frontotemporal Dementia, Humans, Male, Mice, Mutation

Journal Title

Transl Psychiatry

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

2158-3188
2158-3188

Volume Title

10

Publisher

Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Sponsorship
Ministry of Health and Welfare (Ministry of Health, Welfare and Family Affairs) (HI14C2173, HI14C2173, HI14C2173, HI14C2173)