PhD Scientific Days 2022

Neurosciences I. (Poster discussion will take place in the Aula during the Coffee Break)

Effect of embrional valproinic acid and deltametrin treatment on social behavior and in domestic chicks (Gallus gallus)

Text of the abstract

Embryonic exposure to valproic acid (VPA) is known to produce sociability deficits, resembling human autistic phenotypes, in several vertebrate species. Animals living in groups prefer the proximity of peers and have the ability to perceive and to respond to social signals for modifying behaviour. Chicks of Galliform birds, known to display early preference behaviours, have been used extensively for adaptive learning studies. Our question was whether the investigated environmental contaminant, deltamethrin, can cause autism-specific behavioural abnormalities. The secondary goal was to create a potentially new animal model of pharmacological autism and compare it to the widely used model of valproic acid. Here, domestic chicken eggs were injected with sodium valproate (200 μl of 35 μmol/L solution) or with vehicle (distilled water) and deltamethrine (1.5mg/kg) on the 14th day of incubation. After hatching, the chicks were tested for sociability, and social memory before and after social isolation. Our findings confirm previous studies, reporting an adverse effect of VPA on embryonic development, including a tendency for aborted or delayed hatching and, occasionally, for locomotor disorders in a small percentage of birds. The most prominent finding was attenuation of sociability of VPA-exposed birds. Social memory of familiarized individuals is not yet formed in chicks at this age. Although deltamethrin treatment caused minor changes in behaviour, it did not cause a behaviour pattern similar to VPA, it was not associated with a decrease in sociability and vocalization. There is probably no direct association between deltamethrin and the incidence of autism. It seems that embryonic deltamethrin treatment is not an appropriate chemical model for autism.