Development of home cage social behaviors in BALB/cJ vs. C57BL/6J mice

Andrew H Fairless; Julia M Katz; Neha Vijayvargiya; Holly C Dow; Arati Sadalge Kreibich; Wade H Berrettini; Ted Abel; Edward S Brodkin

doi:10.1016/j.bbr.2012.08.051

Back

Development of home cage social behaviors in BALB/cJ vs. C57BL/6J mice

Journal article

Peer reviewed

Development of home cage social behaviors in BALB/cJ vs. C57BL/6J mice

Andrew H Fairless, Julia M Katz, Neha Vijayvargiya, Holly C Dow, Arati Sadalge Kreibich, Wade H Berrettini, Ted Abel and Edward S Brodkin

Behavioural brain research, Vol.237(1), pp.338-347

01/15/2013

DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2012.08.051

PMCID: PMC3554266

PMID: 22982070

Files and links (1)

url

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/3554266View

Open Access

Abstract

► C57BL/6J and BALB/cJ mice did not differ in active social behaviors in home cage. ► C57BL/6J mice were more passively social than BALB/cJ mice at 30 days of age. ► Strain difference in passive social behaviors mainly due to difference in huddling. ► C57BL/6J passive social behaviors declined to BALB/cJ levels by adulthood. BALB/cJ and C57BL/6J inbred mouse strains have been proposed as useful models of low and high levels of sociability (tendency to seek social interaction), respectively, based primarily on behaviors of ∼30-day-old mice in the Social Approach Test (SAT). In the SAT, approach and sniffing behaviors of a test mouse toward an unfamiliar stimulus mouse are measured in a novel environment. However, it is unclear whether such results generalize to a familiar environment with a familiar social partner, such as with a littermate in a home cage environment. We hypothesized that C57BL/6J mice would show higher levels of social behaviors than BALB/cJ mice in the home cage environment, particularly at 30 days-of-age. We measured active and passive social behaviors in home cages by pairs of BALB/cJ or C57BL/6J littermates at ages 30, 41, and 69 days. The strains did not differ robustly in their active social behaviors. C57BL/6J mice were more passively social than BALB/cJ mice at 30 days, and C57BL/6J levels of passive social behaviors declined to BALB/cJ levels by 69 days. The differences in passive social behaviors at 30 days-of-age were primarily attributable to differences in huddling. These results indicate that different test conditions (SAT conditions vs. home cage conditions) elicit strain differences in distinct types of behaviors (approach/sniffing vs. huddling behaviors, respectively). Assessment of the more naturalistic social interactions in the familiar home cage environment with a familiar littermate will provide a useful component of a comprehensive assessment of social behaviors in mouse models relevant to autism.

Social

Development

Genetic

Environment

Behavior

Mouse

Details

Title: Subtitle: Development of home cage social behaviors in BALB/cJ vs. C57BL/6J mice
Creators: Andrew H Fairless - Center for Neurobiology and Behavior, Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Translational Research Laboratory, 125 South 31st Street, Room 2220, Philadelphia, PA 19104-3403, USA
Julia M Katz - Center for Neurobiology and Behavior, Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Translational Research Laboratory, 125 South 31st Street, Room 2220, Philadelphia, PA 19104-3403, USA
Neha Vijayvargiya - Center for Neurobiology and Behavior, Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Translational Research Laboratory, 125 South 31st Street, Room 2220, Philadelphia, PA 19104-3403, USA
Holly C Dow - Center for Neurobiology and Behavior, Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Translational Research Laboratory, 125 South 31st Street, Room 2220, Philadelphia, PA 19104-3403, USA
Arati Sadalge Kreibich - Center for Neurobiology and Behavior, Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Translational Research Laboratory, 125 South 31st Street, Room 2220, Philadelphia, PA 19104-3403, USA
Wade H Berrettini - Center for Neurobiology and Behavior, Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Translational Research Laboratory, 125 South 31st Street, Room 2220, Philadelphia, PA 19104-3403, USA
Ted Abel - Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania, 204G Lynch Laboratory, 433 South University Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6018, USA
Edward S Brodkin - Center for Neurobiology and Behavior, Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Translational Research Laboratory, 125 South 31st Street, Room 2220, Philadelphia, PA 19104-3403, USA
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Behavioural brain research, Vol.237(1), pp.338-347
DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2012.08.051
PMID: 22982070
PMCID: PMC3554266
NLM abbreviation: Behav Brain Res
ISSN: 0166-4328
eISSN: 1872-7549
Publisher: Elsevier B.V
Grant note: DOI: 10.13039/100000002, name: National Institutes of Health Grants, award: R01MH080718; name: ARRA supplement, award: 3R01MH080718-03S1, 5-T32-MH017168; DOI: 10.13039/100004897, name: Pennsylvania Department of Health, award: SAP# 4100043366; name: Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Award in the Biomedical Sciences
Language: English
Date published: 01/15/2013
Academic Unit: Molecular Physiology and Biophysics; Psychiatry; Psychological and Brain Sciences; Iowa Neuroscience Institute; Neuroscience and Pharmacology; Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Record Identifier: 9984065827602771

Metrics

13 Record Views

35 Times Cited - Web of Science

See more details