Attractivity and social preferences in mice (Mus musculus domesticus): The role of prepubertal sexual segregation and of precocious weaning.

Abstract

Mice (Mus musculus domesticus) were raised (Postnatal Day 15 to 25) in single- or mixed-sex litters and precociously (Day 15) or regularly (Day 25) weaned. When they were faced as adults with a basic social choice--between two stimulus mice raised in litters of different sex composition but both of the same sex as the chooser--mice raised in mixed-sex litters were preferred. In the sociosexual choice-between a male and a female, both from the single- or the mixed-sex group--the opposite-sex preference was expressed. Both these preferences were abolished by the sexual segregation of the choosers. This variable hardly affected potential mate choice--between two stimulus mice both of the opposite sex of the chooser but raised in litters of different sex composition. Data indicate that socially mediated behavioral plasticity has a major role in the early shaping of adult individual differences both in attractive stimulus properties and in sociosexual preferences.

Social motivation is reduced in vasopressin 1b receptor null mice despite normal performance in an olfactory discrimination task

“…V1bR+/+ mice prefer cues from female mice over male mice, a result consistent with previous reports (Mossman and Drickamer, 1996;Terranova et al, 2000;Wersinger and Rissman, 2000). Likewise, the V1bR+/+ mice are motivated to investigate social cues (either male-or female-soiled bedding) over bedding with no social cues.…”

Spontaneous Novelty Seeking and Amphetamine-induced Conditioning and Sensitization in Adult Mice Evidence of Dissociation as a Function of Age at Weaning

“…In particular, drug-conditioned effects were significantly more marked in Wean-15 mice, when compared with the other two weaning groups. Consistently, previous reports associated early weaning with an increased sensitivity to cocaine's rewarding properties (Laviola and Dell'Omo 1997) and a higher responsivity to the modulatory effect of a delta-opioid agonist (Terranova and Laviola 2001), along with a numberof other neurobehavioral effects (Terranova and Laviola 1995;Loggi et al 1996;Terranova et al 2000). It seems important to note that manipulation of weaning time did not produce any leftward or rightward shift in the dose-response curve.…”

“…Accordingly, when compared with a regular weaning group, animals weaned precociously show a number of behavioral (Martin and Bateson 1985;Terranova and Laviola 1995;Loggi et al 1996;Terranova et al 2000) and neurochemical (see e.g. Sharman et al 1982;Mann and Sharman 1983) changes, which can be regarded as signs of advanced ontogeny.…”

Effects of social conditions during early development on stress response and personality traits in great tits (Parus major)

“…In addition to such nutritional conditions, also the social environment an individual experiences during early development can affect the expression of phenotypic traits (Stamps & Groothuis, 2010). Yet, so far, most studies on the influence of social conditions during early development on subsequent behavioral traits have been conducted on small mammals (Laviola & Alleva, 1995;Laviola & Terranova, 1998;Mendl, 1988aMendl, , 1988bTerranova, Loggi, Chiarotti, & Laviola, 2000). Studies on mice showed, for instance, that litter size and sex ratio affect subsequent social behavior (Laviola & Terranova, 1998) and studies on guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus) showed that offspring from mothers experiencing a socially unstable environment during pregnancy were more aggressive than offspring from mothers that were in a stable social environment during pregnancy (Kaiser & Sachser, 2005).…”