Date of Award
12-2026
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts in Psychological Science
Department
Psychology
First Reader/Committee Chair
Amodeo, Dionisio
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is known for developmental disability that typically emerges around infancy and early childhood due to a possible combination of genetics, environment or a combination of both. A diagnosis of ASD is determined by behavioral measures due to the lack of reliable biomarkers. Such symptoms include social impairment, and restricted and repetitive behaviors. Restricted and repetitive behaviors often present as rigid behavior or behavioral inflexibility. Behavioral flexibility is often described as the ability to adapt to changing environments. Previous research has shown that serotonin (5-HT) 1B and 1A receptor upregulation may attenuate restricted, repetitive behaviors found in ASD. The present study examined the role of 5-HT1B/1A receptor modulation on behavioral flexibility using a reversal learning task in BTBR T+ tf/J mice, a strain that presents the core ASD symptoms compared to the control C57BL/6J mouse strain. Mice were first tested on a 80/20% probabilistic two choice discrimination. Once mice reached learning criteria for the initial discrimination, reversal learning trials began. Mice received intraperitoneal injections (IP) of 0, 0.5 or 1.0 RU24969 treatment, 10 minutes before each testing session. Probabilistic reversal learning trials continued until mice reached the learning criterion. There was no difference between groups on acquisition learning. During reversal, mice treated with 1.0 mg/kg RU24969 required significantly more days to reach criterion than vehicle treated mice, although trials to criterion did not differ. BTBR mice made fewer correct choices than C57BL/6J mice across both halves of reversal learning trials, and a strain x treatment interaction in the first half of reversal was driven by C57BL/6J mice treated with 1.0 mg/kg RU24969. These results indicate that 5-HT1B/1A receptor activation impaired behavioral flexibility in control mice without improving flexibility in BTBR mice, a pattern consistent with the 5-HT1B receptor affects of RU24969 potentially inhibiting the possible benefits of 5-HT1A receptor activation.
Recommended Citation
Gonzales, Magdalena R., "SEROTONIN 1B/1A RECEPTOR MODULATION ON PROBABILISTIC REVERSAL LEARNING IN THE BTBR MOUSE MODEL OF AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER" (2026). Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations. 2536.
https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd/2536