Epidemiological studies highlight a robust association between advanced paternal age and risk for several neuropsychiatric disorders including autism, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. In this study we used a mouse model to investigate behavioural and molecular effects of advanced paternal age on the offspring. C57BL/6J females aged 2 months were mated with fathers of the same strain of three different ages: 2 months to represent ‘young’ fathers, 10 months to represent ‘old’ fathers and 12 months to represent ‘very old’ fathers.
Smith, R.G., Reichenberg, A., Kember, R.L., Buxbaum, J.D., Schalkwyk, L.C., Fernandes, C., and Mill, J. (2012). Advanced paternal age is associated with altered DNA methylation at brain-expressed imprinted loci in inbred mice: implications for neuropsychiatric disease. Mol Psych 10.1038/mp.2012.88.
Smith, R.G., Kember, R.L., Mill, J., Fernandes, C., Schalkwyk, L.C., Buxbaum, J.D., and Reichenberg, A. (2009). Advancing paternal age is associated with deficits in social and exploratory behaviors in the offspring: a mouse model. PLoS One 4, e8456.