The use of animal models for the analysis of complex neurodevelopmental disorders appears to be an attractive alternative to circumvent the problems encountered when human material is used for mRNA or protein profiling. However, animals do not exhibit higher-order functions, some of which may be associated with complex human disorders. Nevertheless, one can take advantage of specific characteristics (endophenotypes) of an animal model to study the genetic and environmental factors that lead to a particular phenotypic outcome.
