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Do social statuses affect the startle reflex in male mice?
J-P Coudereau1, L Sreng, R Palme
1Genetique Medicale et Genomique Fonctionnelle, Inserm UMR 910, Faculte de Medecine de Timone, 27 boulevard Jean Moulin, 13385 Marseille Cedex 05, France.
Behavioural Brain Research
|June 26, 2012
Summary
Social housing in male mice creates dominance hierarchies, impacting stress. While subordinates initially showed higher stress, both dominant and subordinate mice exhibited similar stress levels by the experiment
Area of Science:
- Animal Behavior
- Neuroscience
- Endocrinology
Background:
- Social housing conditions can establish dominance hierarchies in male mice.
- These hierarchies create distinct physiological and behavioral differences between dominant and subordinate individuals.
- Understanding stress responses in these social contexts is crucial for animal welfare and research.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess stress responses in dominant versus subordinate male mice.
- To investigate potential changes in prepulse inhibition (PPI) of the startle reflex.
- To correlate social status with physiological stress markers.
Main Methods:
- Established stable aggressive dominance in 11 pairs of male NMRI mice over three weeks.
- Measured stress levels non-invasively using faecal corticosterone metabolites (FCM).
- Assessed the startle response and PPI through auditory stimuli.
Main Results:
- Subordinate males exhibited higher stress (FCM) during hierarchy establishment.
- FCM levels decreased and became similar between dominants and subordinates by the study's end.
- No significant differences were observed in the startle response or PPI between the groups.
Conclusions:
- Social dominance in mice influences initial stress levels, which normalize over time.
- Prepulse inhibition of the startle reflex is not significantly altered by social hierarchy in this model.
- Faecal corticosterone metabolites provide a reliable indicator of stress in socially housed male mice.
