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Behavior and Ethology Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Genetics and Genomics

Symposium of Student Scholars

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Full-Text Articles in Behavior and Ethology

The Evolutionary Origins Of Autism Associated Genes And Their Role In Great Ape Socio-Communication, Azeeza Abdulrauf, Martin Hudson, Susan M.E. Smith, Jared P. Taglialatela Aug 2021

The Evolutionary Origins Of Autism Associated Genes And Their Role In Great Ape Socio-Communication, Azeeza Abdulrauf, Martin Hudson, Susan M.E. Smith, Jared P. Taglialatela

Symposium of Student Scholars

Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) play a major role in socio-communicative behavior. For this study, the focus is on autism associated OXTR, AVPR1A, and FOXP2 SNPs, and the role they play in great apes. Prior research on the OXTR, AVPR1A, and FOXP2 SNPs show that they affect behavior skills such as understanding and controlling emotion, understanding the emotions of others, and communications skills. Great apes, such as bonobos, chimpanzees, and gorillas are the model, since they are our closest relatives in the animal kingdom capable of understanding complex communication. Each gene has at least two SNPS that are investigated in the …