Species-typical group size differentially influences social reward neural circuitry during nonreproductive social interactions

Advancements in the study of neural mechanisms underlying mammalian grouping behaviour

“…Spiny mice (roughly 1/3 the size of a degu) readily breed in the lab and can be housed in adult groups of ~30 adult spiny mice (Haughton et al, 2016), allowing for the study of various grouping behaviors. Initial studies from my lab show that spiny mice exhibit a preference to affiliate with large over small groups of conspecifics, are highly affiliative, and exhibit little aggression in multiple social contexts (Fricker et al, 2021;Gonzalez Abreu et al, 2022). This high degree of sociality was also demonstrated in a study that found that established spiny mouse breeding groups will not only display low levels of aggression to unrelated newcomers, but also accept them into the group, which is uncommon in rodents (Cizkova et al, 2011).…”

“…Thus far, my lab has characterized basic social behaviors (Fricker et al, 2021), mapped social neural circuitry (Kelly and Seifert, 2021;Powell et al, 2022), and developed/validated the use of state-ofthe-art technology (i.e., chemogenetic technology, functional genetic approaches, and fiber photometry) in spiny mice. We have shown that the hypothalamus may gate social reward in nonreproductive contexts via influences on reward circuitry (Gonzalez Abreu et al, 2022), found that the lateral septum differentially processes kin from non-kin, and identified neural circuits that facilitate the preference to affiliate with large groups (Kelly et al unpub obs).…”

“…Variation in social context can in turn influence the consequences of and/or motivations for particular actions, and thus may be regulated via different mechanisms in the brain. Indeed, just as a social context can elicit neural responses distinct from a non-social context (Gonzalez Abreu et al, 2022;Rodriguez-Santiago et al, 2022), so too can interactions with or exposure to a singular individual compared to a group of individuals (Rose et al, 2021).…”

Estudo Da Etologia Para Promoção Do Bem-Estar Animal Em Um Biotério De Experimentação

“…Estudando comportamento do Hamster Sírio (Mesocricetus auratus) em vida livre, compreendemos que ele é um animal com comportamento territorial e agressivo, inclusive a fêmea da espécie costuma se destacar mais nesses dois aspectos, na natureza eles têm um hábito de vida solitário, e costumam passar a maior parte do período diurno dormindo sem suas tocas (TARAVOSH- LAHN & DELVILLE 2004, ELIDIO et. al, 2021ASHLEY et. al, 2022).…”

Protocol for multiplex fluorescent immunohistochemistry in free-floating rodent brain tissues

“…The protocol can be applied to other tissue types. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Gonzalez Abreu et al. (2022) .…”