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Learning of submissive behavior in mice: A new model
H R Frischknecht1, B Siegfried, P G Waser
1Institute of Pharmacology, University of Zürich, Gloriastrasse 32, 8006 Zürich, Switzerland.
Behavioural Processes
|June 14, 2014
Summary
Mice learn submissive behaviors after losing fights. This learned behavior, including increased submissiveness, persists even when encountering non-aggressive mice, demonstrating a form of social learning.
Area of Science:
- Ethology
- Neuroscience
- Animal Behavior
Background:
- Social hierarchy and fight outcomes significantly influence subsequent aggressive and submissive behaviors.
- Understanding learning mechanisms in biologically relevant contexts is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate learning mechanisms of submissive behavior in male mice using a model of social interaction.
- To establish a reliable method for studying learned submissiveness.
Main Methods:
- A model involving ICR mice and C57BL/6 mice (Fighters and Non-Fighters) was developed.
- ICR mice were exposed to defeat by a Fighter mouse (learning trial) and then retested with a Non-Fighter mouse.
Main Results:
- Naive ICR mice showed minimal submissive behavior towards Non-Fighters.
- After defeat, ICR mice exhibited significantly increased submissive behaviors upon mere contact with Non-Fighters.
- Control mice, not exposed to defeat, showed no such increase in submissiveness.
Conclusions:
- The study demonstrates the acquisition, memory, and retrieval of learned submissive behavior in mice.
- Generalization of conditioning and specific extinction processes are suggested as underlying mechanisms.
- This model can be utilized to assess the effects of drugs on learned behaviors.
