Assessing Sociability, Social Memory, and Pup Retrieval in Mice

Abstract

Adaptive social behavior is important in mammals, both for the well-being of the individual and for the thriving of the species. Dysfunctions in social behavior occur in many neurodevelopmental and psychiatric diseases, and research into the genetic components of disease-relevant social deficits can open up new avenues for understanding the underlying biological mechanisms and therapeutic interventions. Genetically modified mouse models are particularly useful in this respect, and robust experimental protocols are needed to reliably assess relevant social behavior phenotypes. Here we describe in detail three protocols to quantitatively measure sociability, one of the most frequently investigated social behavior phenotypes in mice, using a three-chamber sociability test. These protocols can be extended to also assess social memory. In addition, we provide a detailed protocol on pup retrieval, which is a particularly robust maternal behavior amenable to various scientific questions. © 2017 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Noradrenergic consolidation of social recognition memory is mediated by β-arrestin–biased signaling in the mouse prefrontal cortex

“…The three-chamber task is a widely used test paradigm for quantitatively measuring sociability and social memory 38 , 39 . The mouse chooses to enter one of the three chambers; thus, sociability may be measured by directly comparing the preference for a novel mouse to the preference for an empty wired cage.…”

Phosphorylation-dependent positive feedback on the oxytocin receptor through the kinase PKD1 contributes to long-term social memory

“…The social discrimination tests ( 70 , 71 ) are varied on the basis of the familiarization and separation time. We applied 24 hours of separation time to study LTSM in rats ( 30 ).…”

“…We applied 24 hours of separation time to study LTSM in rats ( 30 ). Nonetheless, the LTSM retention of mice has been controversial ( 45 , 50 , 54 , 71 ), and we tested the optimal separation intervals for mice under our experimental conditions. All experiments were conducted in a dark room, and each test animal was able to distribute its behavior in a three-chamber apparatus.…”

“…The locations of familiar and novel animals were counterbalanced. We drew regions of interest (ROIs) that were 3 to 5 cm from the edge of the cages to the outer border ( 71 ). The amount of time spent in the ROIs was recorded by an infrared camera in a dark room.…”

“…The behaviors were all analyzed by Smart v3.03 by either automatic detection (social behaviors, ORT, OFT, and EPM) or manual detection (resident-intruder test and olfactory test). To evaluate the sniffing/exploring time in the social behaviors and ORT, we drew ROIs that were 3 to 5 cm from the edge of the cages or objects to the outer border ( 71 ). Cumulative time was scored when the head of the animal was detected in the ROIs.…”