The Mechanisms Underlying Sociality (MUS) Lab at The University of New Orleans focuses on gaining a better understanding of how bodily mechanisms influence social cognition and behavior. One of the primary questions of interest in our lab is how deficits in metabolism and/or temperature regulation may relate to differences in social cognitive abilities in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs). This question is motivated by frequent reports of temperature regulation issues in ASDs and related disorders (e.g., schizophrenia), including the “fever effect,” in which children with ASD sometimes show surprising recovery of functioning during high fevers (see Curran et al., 2007; Grzadzinski et al., 2018).

We employ rodent models–e.g., mice with either genetically engineered or spontaneously expressed social and/or thermoregulatory deficits–to explore this question. Oxytocin ‘knockout’ mice, for example, exhibit differences in both social and thermoregulatory functioning,  and thus provide an important model of how these seemingly unrelated systems might have causal inter-connections. Recent studies in the MusLab have also explored the neurobehavioral effects of early-life exposure to the common antipyretic acetaminophen (paracetamol). Although a mouse or a rat will never be equivalent to a human, research on rodents can be invaluable in providing mechanistic insight into causal processes operating in humans.

Contact The MUS Lab / Dr. Harshaw

Ways of contacting us:
 

Find the MUS Lab on the UNO Campus

Geology/Psychology Bldg
 

Contact Dr. Harshaw

Dr. Christopher Harshaw 
(504)280-7167

charshaw[at]uno.edu

Office Hours

Room 2006
Tues, Thurs, 12:00-5:00

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