Interval Timing Is Altered in Male Nrxn1+/- Mice: A Model of Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Male Nrxn1+/- mice misjudge time, giving us a simple behavior marker for a high-risk autism gene.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Scientists tested timing skills in male mice missing one copy of the Nrxn1 gene. These mice serve as an autism model.
The animals had to learn how long a sound would last. Researchers measured when the mice stopped waiting.
What they found
The Nrxn1+/- mice quit early. They acted as if the signal had ended sooner than it really did.
This leftward shift hints that their brain stores time memories differently.
How this fits with other research
Hopkins et al. (2023) also cut NRXN1 levels, but in teenage rats. They saw social and anxiety problems, not timing. Same gene, new read-out.
Mottolese et al. (2024) worked with Cdkl5-KO mice. Like our mice, the animals showed early, lasting autism-linked traits. Both models validate single-gene risk.
Quesnel et al. (2026) scanned ATRX-deficient mice in the same year. They found brain wiring changes, while we found clock changes. Together they map how different autism genes hit different systems.
Why it matters
You now have a clear behavior to watch. If a client with NRXN1 loss seems impulsive or rushed, test timing skills. Use short wait games and note when they jump the gun. This cheap probe may guide your next teaching step.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by impaired social interactions and communication, and increased repetitive and stereotypical behavior. Neuroimaging shows functional abnormalities in brain areas involved in temporal processing in autistic individuals, and they also show deficits in interval timing. Neurexin (NRXN) mutations have been identified in a wide variety of neuropsychiatric disorders, including ASD, and Nrxn1+/- mice possess a mutation that disrupts the α, β, and γ isoforms of Nrxn1, a gene involved in synapse structure. We investigated the interval timing abilities of the Nrxn1+/- mouse model of ASD in the peak interval procedure using a 15-s target interval and compared their performance with that of Nrxn1+/+ and Nrxn1ΔS5/- rescue mice. Two-month-old male Nrxn1+/+ (C57BL/6 J), Nrxn1+/-, and Nrxn1ΔS5/- mice were trained to obtain sucrose liquid rewards 15 s after the onset of a discriminative stimulus (discrete fixed-interval training), and their timing responses were tested in non-reinforced probe trials. Our analysis of responses across individual trials revealed that Nrxn1+/- mice had earlier timing responses overall. This difference was manifested as earlier termination of responding in terms of the response curves. These findings are consistent with leftward shifts observed with experimental animal models of ASD. In conclusion, we believe these results indicate a bias in long-term memory in the Nrxn1+/- mouse model of ASD and may capture the timing deficit observed in autistic individuals.
Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research, 2026 · doi:10.1002/aur.70226