@article {310482,
	title = {A humanized version of Foxp2 affects cortico-basal ganglia circuits in mice.},
	journal = {Cell},
	volume = {137},
	year = {2009},
	month = {2009 May 29},
	pages = {961-71},
	abstract = {<p>It has been proposed that two amino acid substitutions in the transcription factor FOXP2 have been positively selected during human evolution due to effects on aspects of speech and language. Here, we introduce these substitutions into the endogenous Foxp2 gene of mice. Although these mice are generally healthy, they have qualitatively different ultrasonic vocalizations, decreased exploratory behavior and decreased dopamine concentrations in the brain suggesting that the humanized Foxp2 allele affects basal ganglia. In the striatum, a part of the basal ganglia affected in humans with a speech deficit due to a nonfunctional FOXP2 allele, we find that medium spiny neurons have increased dendrite lengths and increased synaptic plasticity. Since mice carrying one nonfunctional Foxp2 allele show opposite effects, this suggests that alterations in cortico-basal ganglia circuits might have been important for the evolution of speech and language in humans.</p>
},
	keywords = {Amino Acid Substitution, Animals, Basal ganglia, Biological Evolution, Dendrites, Dopamine, Forkhead Transcription Factors, Gene Expression, Heterozygote, Humans, Language, Long-Term Synaptic Depression, Mice, Neural Pathways, Neuronal Plasticity, Speech, Vocalization, Animal},
	issn = {1097-4172},
	doi = {10.1016/j.cell.2009.03.041},
	author = {Enard, W. and Gehre, S. and Hammerschmidt, K. and H{\"o}lter, S. and Blass, T. and Somel, M. and Br{\"u}ckner, M. K. and Schreiweis, C. and Winter, C. and Sohr, R. and Becker, L. and Wiebe, V. and Nickel, B. and Giger, T. and M{\"u}ller, U. and Groszer, M. and Adler, T. and Aguilar, A. and Bolle, I. and Calzada-Wack, J. and Dalke, C. and Ehrhardt, N. and Favor, J. and Fuchs, H. and Gailus-Durner, V. and Hans, W. and H{\"o}lzlwimmer, G. and Javaheri, A. and Kalaydjiev, S. and Kallnik, M. and Kling, E. and Kunder, S. and Mossbrugger, I. and Naton, B. and Racz, I. and Rathkolb, B. and Rozman, J. and Schrewe, A. and Busch, D. H. and Graw, J. and Ivandic, B. and Klingenspor, M. and Klopstock, T. and Ollert, M. and Quintanilla-Martinez, L. and Schulz, H. and Wolf, E. and Wurst, W. and Zimmer, A. and Fisher, S. E. and Morgenstern, R. and Arendt, T. and de Angelis, Martin Hrab{\'e} and Fischer, J. and Schwarz, J. and Paabo, S.}
}
