Waving Through the Window: A Model of Volitional Social Interaction in Female Mice

Ramsey, Leslie A.; Holloman, Fernanda M.; Hope, Bruce T.; Shaham, Yavin; Vènniro, Marco

doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2021.10.023

Cited by 23 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 66 publications

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“…We can speculate that the robust female social self-administration may be affiliative, rather than aggressive, when social interactions are volitional rather than forced. These data agree with recently published work using outbred CD1 female mice, where female mice readily lever press for sensory contact to female partner mice (Ramsey et al ., 2021). However, our data also caution against the use of purely barrier-based social self-administration procedures in males and females due to the potential incongruence in aggressive behavior between RI and SA testing.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Dynamic Sex Differences in Appetitive and Reactive Aggression

Aubry

Burnett

Goodwin

et al. 2022

Preprint

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BackgroundAggression is an evolutionarily conserved, adaptive component of social behavior. Studies in male mice illustrate that aggression is influenced by numerous factors including the degree to which an individual finds aggression rewarding and will work for access to attack and subordinate mice. While such studies have expanded our understanding of the molecular and circuit mechanisms of male aggression very little is known about female aggression, owed in part to limited availability of valid mouse models in females.MethodsHere we use an ethologically relevant model of male vs. female aggression by pair housing adult male and female outbred CFW mice with opposite sex cage mates. We assess reactive (defensive) aggression in the resident intruder (RI) test and appetitive (rewarding) aggression in the aggression conditioned place preference (CPP) and operant self-administration (SA) tests.ResultsOur results show dramatic sex differences in both qualitative and quantitative aspects of reactive vs. appetitive aggression. Males exhibit more wrestling and less investigative behavior during RI, find aggression rewarding and will work for access to a subordinate to attack. Females exhibit more bites, alternate between aggressive behaviors and investigative behaviors more readily during RI, however, they do not find aggression to be rewarding or reinforcing.ConclusionsThese results establish sex differences in aggression in mice, providing an important resource for the field to better understand the circuit and molecular mechanisms of aggression in both sexes.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Dynamic Sex Differences in Appetitive and Reactive Aggression

Aubry

Burnett

Goodwin

et al. 2022

Preprint

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“…Here, we used 24-h conditioning periods for the social and isolation contexts, the same as several recent reports 1 , 3 – 5 . Protocols with short, 15–30-min conditioning sessions have also been described, where one of the contexts was paired to interaction with an unfamiliar 11 , 12 or a familiar 13 juvenile or an age- and weight-matched partner. According to these reports, the rewarding effects of a brief interaction were also dependent on age and familiarity, and in contrast to this report, contact with unfamiliar mice resulted in significant place preference 11 , 12 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…According to these reports, the rewarding effects of a brief interaction were also dependent on age and familiarity, and in contrast to this report, contact with unfamiliar mice resulted in significant place preference 11 , 12 . The effects of the brief contact with a familiar conspecific were reported to be strain specific; CD1 female mice showed robust sCPP, while C57BL/6J did not 13 . There are essential differences in the approaches, and we would like to note that the long conditioning periods exclude potential effects of novelty, sociability or social memory, while short conditioning sessions emphasize them and could be argued to share similarities to the three-chamber social approach task 14 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Establishment of a social conditioned place preference paradigm for the study of social reward in female mice

Harda

Chrószcz

Misiołek

et al. 2022

Sci Rep

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Social interactions can be and often are rewarding. The effect of social contact strongly depends on circumstances, and the reward may be driven by varied motivational processes, ranging from parental or affiliative behaviors to investigation or aggression. Reward associated with nonreproductive interactions in rodents is measured using the social conditioned place preference (sCPP) paradigm, where a change in preference for an initially neutral context confirms reinforcing effects of social contact. Here, we revised the sCPP method and reexamined social reward in adult female mice. Contrary to earlier studies, we found that robust rewarding effects of social contact could be detected in adult (14-week-old) female C57BL/6 mice when the sCPP task was refined to remove confounding factors. Strikingly, the rewarding effects of social interaction were only observed among female siblings who remained together from birth. Contact with same-age nonsiblings was not rewarding even after 8 weeks of cohousing. Other factors critical for the social reward effect in the sCPP paradigm included the number of conditioning sessions and the inherent preference for contextual cues. Thus, we show that social interaction is rewarding in adult female mice, but this effect strictly depends on the familiarity of the interaction partners. Furthermore, by identifying confounding factors, we provide a behavioral model to study the mechanisms underlying the rewarding effects of nonreproductive social interaction in adult mice.

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“…Here, we used 24-h conditioning periods for the social and isolation contexts, the same as several recent reports (Dölen et al, 2013; Hung et al, 2017; Nardou et al, 2019; Panksepp and Lahvis, 2007). Protocols with short, 15-30-minute conditioning sessions have also been described, where one of the contexts was paired to interaction with an unfamiliar (Bariselli et al, 2018; Kummer et al, 2014) or a familiar (Ramsey et al, 2021) juvenile or an age-and weight-matched partner. According to these reports, the rewarding effects of a brief interaction were also dependent on age and familiarity, and in contrast to this report, contact with unfamiliar mice resulted in significant place preference (Bariselli et al, 2018; Kummer et al, 2014).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…According to these reports, the rewarding effects of a brief interaction were also dependent on age and familiarity, and in contrast to this report, contact with unfamiliar mice resulted in significant place preference (Bariselli et al, 2018; Kummer et al, 2014). The effects of the brief contact with a familiar conspecific were reported to be strain specific; CD1 female mice showed robust sCPP, while C57BL/6J did not (Ramsey et al, 2021). There are essential differences in the approaches, and we would like to note that the long conditioning periods exclude potential effects of novelty, sociability or social memory, while short conditioning sessions emphasize them and could be argued to share similarities to the three-chamber social approach task (Crawley, 2007).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Establishment of a social conditioned place preference paradigm for the study of social reward in female mice

Harda

Chrószcz

Misiołek

et al. 2022

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Social interactions can be and often are rewarding. The effect of social contact strongly depends on circumstances, and the reward may be driven by varied motivational processes, ranging from parental or affiliative behaviors to investigation or aggression. Reward associated with nonreproductive interactions in rodents is measured using the social conditioned place preference (sCPP) paradigm, where a change in preference for an initially neutral context confirms reinforcing effects of social contact. Here, we revised the sCPP method and reexamined social reward in adult female mice. Contrary to earlier studies, we found that robust rewarding effects of social contact could be detected in adult (14-week-old) female C57BL/6 mice when the sCPP task was refined to remove confounding factors. Strikingly, the rewarding effects of social interaction were only observed among female siblings who remained together from birth. Contact with same-age nonsiblings was not rewarding even after 8 weeks of cohousing. Other factors critical for the social reward effect in the sCPP paradigm included the number of conditioning sessions and the inherent preference for contextual cues. Thus, we show that social interaction is rewarding in adult female mice, but this effect strictly depends on the familiarity of the interaction partners. Furthermore, by identifying confounding factors, we provide a model to study the mechanisms underlying the rewarding effects of nonreproductive social interaction in adult mice.

show abstract

Waving Through the Window: A Model of Volitional Social Interaction in Female Mice

Cited by 23 publications

References 66 publications

Dynamic Sex Differences in Appetitive and Reactive Aggression

Dynamic Sex Differences in Appetitive and Reactive Aggression

Establishment of a social conditioned place preference paradigm for the study of social reward in female mice

Establishment of a social conditioned place preference paradigm for the study of social reward in female mice

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