Social dominance mediates behavioral adaptation to chronic stress in a sex-specific manner

Abstract

Sex differences and social context independently contribute to the development of stress-related disorders. However, less is known about how their interplay might influence behavior and physiology. Here we focused on social hierarchy status, a major component of the social environment in mice, and whether it influences the behavioral adaptation to chronic stress in a sex-specific manner. We used a high-throughput automated behavioral monitoring system to assess social dominance in same-sex group-living mice. We found that position in the social hierarchy at baseline was a significant predictor of multiple behavioral outcomes following exposure to chronic stress. Crucially, this association carried opposite consequences for the two sexes. This work demonstrates the importance of recognizing the interplay between sex and social factors and enhances our understating of how individual differences shape the stress response.

Individual history of winning and hierarchy landscape influence stress susceptibility in mice

“…Dominant animals, which have a smaller stress response to the variable stress, remain in a dominant position, whereas animals with larger stress responses drop to the bottom of the social hierarchy. This effect may take time as a single acute stressor did not alter hierarchy when measuring agonistic behavior in a social box (Karamihalev et al, 2020). Moreover, this prior work showed sex-specific behavioral effects in response to CVS.…”

Is It Possible to Shift from Down to Top Rank? A Focus on the Mesolimbic Dopaminergic System and Cocaine Abuse

“…The social environment has a powerful influence on how individuals experience and cope with negative encounters. Regardless of whether this negative encounter was an adverse environmental condition or an exposure to drugs of abuse, social behavior and social rank in particular, are important contributors to individual differences [ 100 ] and to the individual responses to environmental challenges [ 101 ]. However, for most of the studies, social behavior and rank have been identified on the basis of a detailed observation of pairs.…”

An optimized protocol for establishing a chronic stress model in mice

“…If larger numbers of mice per cage are used it is advisable to choose animals with similar bodyweight to minimize dominance and fighting, especially with male mice. We advise that when deciding on the number of mice to be placed into one cage the user should take into the consideration on pre-testing the animal’s social dominancy, especially when compared the phenotype between male and female ( van Den Berg et al., 2015 ; Williamson et al., 2019 ; Karamihalev et al., 2020 ) At the pre-monitoring week ( Figure 1 ), measure body composition, glucose tolerance, and basal metabolic profiles following the subsequent steps. Note: Sophisticated monitoring systems might not be accessible for all laboratories.…”

“…If larger numbers of mice per cage are used it is advisable to choose animals with similar bodyweight to minimize dominance and fighting, especially with male mice. We advise that when deciding on the number of mice to be placed into one cage the user should take into the consideration on pre-testing the animal’s social dominancy, especially when compared the phenotype between male and female ( van Den Berg et al., 2015 ; Williamson et al., 2019 ; Karamihalev et al., 2020 )…”