Social interactions among rodent conspecifics: A review of experimental paradigms

Wills, Georgia D.; Wesley, Andrea L.; Moore, Frank R.; Sisemore, David A.

doi:10.1016/0149-7634(83)90035-0

Cited by 32 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 66 publications

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“…Although the existence of empathy in non-humans continues to gather support in the scientific community, the idea remains highly controversial (14, 23–27). In mammals, empathic concern and helping behavior have evolved in the context of parental care (21, 28–30); females must understand the emotions and needs of their offspring, and respond appropriately to ensure their survival (31).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Empathy and Pro-Social Behavior in Rats

Bartal

Decety

Mason

2011

Science

752

715

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Whereas human pro-social behavior is often driven by empathic concern for another, it is unclear whether non-primate mammals experience a similar motivational state. To test for empathically motivated pro-social behavior in rodents, a free rat was placed in an arena with a cagemate trapped in a restrainer. Within days, the free rat acted deliberately and quickly to open the restrainer and free the cagemate. Rats did not open an empty or object-containing restrainer. Rats freed cagemates even when rewarding social contact was prevented. When liberating a cagemate was pitted against chocolate contained within a second restrainer, rats opened both restrainers and in most trials, shared the chocolate. Thus, rats behave pro-socially in response to a conspecific’s distress, providing strong evidence for biological roots of empathy.

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mentioning

confidence: 99%

Empathy and Pro-Social Behavior in Rats

Bartal

Decety

Mason

2011

Science

752

715

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“…Notably, during the social-conditioning sessions, socially-paired WT mice increased their exploratory activity, demonstrating an effect of social facilitation, ie, the effect of the presence of another individual. Social facilitation influences feeding, locomotion, emotional, exploratory, and operant behavior in rodents (Wills et al, 1983), and occurs more frequently among familiar individuals (Krames and Shaw, 1973). In contrast, no social facilitation was observed in the conditioning sessions in DISC1-Q31L mutants and these mice did not develop SCPP.…”

Section: Disc1 Nucleus Accumbens and Social Anhedonia Tv Lipina Et Almentioning

confidence: 89%

Disrupted-In-Schizophrenia-1 Gln31Leu Polymorphism Results in Social Anhedonia Associated with Monoaminergic Imbalance and Reduction of CREB and β-arrestin-1,2 in the Nucleus Accumbens in a Mouse Model of Depression

Lipina

Fletcher

Lee

et al. 2012

Neuropsychopharmacol

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Disrupted-in-schizophrenia-1 (DISC1) is associated with mental disorders, including major depression. We previously showed that DISC1-Q31L mutant mice have depression-like behaviors and can therefore be used to study neurobiological mechanisms of depression and antidepressant (AD) medication action. First, we found reduced levels of dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine in the nucleus accumbens (NAC) of DISC1-Q31L mutants. Next, we assessed social-conditioned place preference as a reward-dependent task and the capacity of distinct ADs to correct impaired social behavior in DISC1-Q31L mice. Bupropion, but not fluoxetine or desipramine, was able to correct deficient social facilitation, social reward, and social novelty in DISC1-Q31L mutants, whereas all three ADs were able to improve social motivation and behavioral despair in DISC1-Q31L mutants. Furthermore, we sought to correlate social anhedonia with molecular and cellular features including dendritic spine density, β-arrestin-1,2, and cAMP-response-element-binding protein (CREB) in the NAC as biomarkers related to depression and the DISC1 pathway. DISC1-Q31L mutants showed reduced levels of β-arrestin-1,2, CREB, and spine density in the NAC, further supporting the construct validity of the genetic model. Bupropion induced the greatest effect on CREB in DISC1-Q31L mutants, whereas all studied ADs corrected the reduced levels of β-arrestin-1,2 and modestly ameliorated deficient spine density in this brain region. Overall, we find neurobiological changes accompanying social anhedonia in the NAC of DISC1-Q31L mutant mice, consistent with a role for DISC1 in regulating social reward as an endophenotype of depression.

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“…Mice have a natural tendency to approach and investigate unfamiliar conspecifics [30]. Stroke impacts this normal affiliative behaviour and may alter the natural tendency to approach unfamiliar conspecifics [7, 47]. We addressed the need for a “sociability” behavioural test after stroke, as data is currently lacking for mice, by modifying a pre-existing three-chamber sociability task [30] to measure post-stroke sociability/affiliative behaviour over time.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pair housing reverses post-stroke depressive behavior in mice

Verma

Friedler

Harris

et al. 2014

Behavioural Brain Research

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Social isolation (SI) has been linked epidemiologically to high rates of morbidity and mortality following stroke. In contrast, strong social support enhances recovery and lowers stroke recurrence. However, the mechanism by which social support influences stroke recovery has not been adequately explored. The goal of this study was to examine the effect of post-stroke pair housing and SI on behavioural phenotypes and chronic functional recovery in mice. Young male mice were paired for 14 days before a 60 minute transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) or sham surgery and assigned to various housing environments immediately after stroke. Post-stroke mice paired with either a sham or stroke partner showed significantly higher (p<0.05) sociability after MCAO than isolated littermates. Sociability deficits worsened over time in isolated animals. Pair-housed mice showed restored sucrose consumption (p<0.05) and reduced immobility in the tail suspension test compared to isolated cohorts. Pair-housed stroked mice demonstrated significantly reduced cerebral atrophy after 6 weeks (17.5 ± 1.5% in PH vs. 40.8 ± 1.3% in SI; p<0.001). Surprisingly, total brain arginase-1, a marker of a M2 “alternatively activated” myeloid cells was higher in isolated mice. However, a more detailed assessment of cellular expression showed a significant increase in the number of microglia that co-labeled with arginase-1 in the peri-infarct region in PH stroke mice compared to SI mice. Pair housing enhances sociability and reduces avolitional and anhedonic behaviour. Pair housing reduced serum IL-6 and enhanced peri-infarct microglia arginase-1 expression. Social interaction reduces post-stroke depression and improves functional recovery.

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Social interactions among rodent conspecifics: A review of experimental paradigms

Cited by 32 publications

References 66 publications

Empathy and Pro-Social Behavior in Rats

Empathy and Pro-Social Behavior in Rats

Disrupted-In-Schizophrenia-1 Gln31Leu Polymorphism Results in Social Anhedonia Associated with Monoaminergic Imbalance and Reduction of CREB and β-arrestin-1,2 in the Nucleus Accumbens in a Mouse Model of Depression

Pair housing reverses post-stroke depressive behavior in mice

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