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An operant social self-administration and choice model in mice
Leslie A Ramsey1, Fernanda M Holloman2, Samantha S Lee2
1Behavioral Neuroscience Branch Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD, USA. Leslie.ramsey@nih.gov.
Nature Protocols
|March 25, 2023
Summary
Female CD1 mice exhibit stronger social motivation and reward-seeking behaviors than C57BL/6J mice, suggesting CD1 mice are a better model for studying social behavior and neuropsychiatric disorders.
Area of Science:
- Neurobiology
- Behavioral Neuroscience
- Animal Models
Background:
- Understanding the neurobiological underpinnings of social behavior is crucial for addressing neuropsychiatric disorders.
- Mice are valuable models for social behavior research due to genetic diversity, but often display lower social motivation than rats.
- Existing mouse models may not fully capture volitional, rewarding social interaction, limiting their utility for complex human social behaviors.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and validate a volitional social self-administration and choice model in mice.
- To systematically compare social motivation and reward in different mouse strains (CD1 vs. C57BL/6J) and ages.
- To provide guidance for using this model to study the neural circuits of operant social reward and its relevance to neuropsychiatric disorders.
Main Methods:
- Development of a social self-administration and choice apparatus, extending previous rat models.
- Systematic comparison of female adolescent and adult C57BL/6J and CD1 mice.
- Assessment of operant social self-administration, social seeking post-isolation, and choice between social interaction and palatable food.
Main Results:
- Female CD1 mice demonstrated significantly stronger operant social self-administration compared to female C57BL/6J mice.
- CD1 mice exhibited greater social seeking behavior after isolation and a stronger preference for social interaction over food rewards.
- These differences were consistent across adolescent and adult age groups in CD1 mice.
Conclusions:
- Outbred CD1 mice, particularly females, are a more robust model for studying volitional social reward and complex social behaviors in mice.
- The developed social self-administration and choice model offers a valuable tool for investigating the brain mechanisms underlying social reward.
- This model has potential applications in studying mouse models of neuropsychiatric disorders characterized by social deficits.
