Distinct dynamics of social motivation drive differential social behavior in laboratory rat and mouse strains

Mice and rats are widely used to explore mechanisms of mammalian social behavior in health and disease, raising the question whether they actually differ in their social behavior. Here we address this question by directly comparing social investigation behavior between two mouse and rat strains used most frequently for behavioral studies and as models of neuropathological conditions: C57BL/6 J mice and Sprague Dawley (SD) rats. Employing novel experimental systems for behavioral analysis of both subjects and stimuli during the social preference test, we reveal marked differences in behavioral dynamics between the strains, suggesting stronger and faster induction of social motivation in SD rats. These different behavioral patterns, which correlate with distinctive c-Fos expression in social motivation-related brain areas, are modified by competition with non-social rewarding stimuli, in a strain-specific manner. Thus, these two strains differ in their social behavior, which should be taken into consideration when selecting an appropriate model organism

Responses of Tectal Neurons to Contrasting Stimuli: An Electrophysiological Study in the Barn Owl

The saliency of visual objects is based on the center to background contrast. Particularly objects differing in one feature from the background may be perceived as more salient. It is not clear to what extent this so called “pop-out” effect observed in humans and primates governs saliency perception in non-primates as well. In this study we searched for neural-correlates of pop-out perception in neurons located in the optic tectum of the barn owl. We measured the responses of tectal neurons to stimuli appearing within the visual receptive field, embedded in a large array of additional stimuli (the background). Responses were compared between contrasting and uniform conditions. In a contrasting condition the center was different from the background while in the uniform condition it was identical to the background. Most tectal neurons responded better to stimuli in the contrsating condition compared to the uniform condition when the contrast between center and background was the direction of motion but not when it was the orientation of a bar. Tectal neurons also preferred contrasting over uniform stimuli when the center was looming and the background receding but not when the center was receding and the background looming. Therefore, our results do not support the hypothesis that tectal neurons are sensitive to pop-out per-se. The specific sensitivity to the motion contrasting stimulus is consistent with the idea that object motion and not large field motion (e.g., self-induced motion) is coded in the neural responses of tectal neurons

Data and statistical summary for the paper - Modulation of social investigation by anterior hypothalamic nucleus rhythmic neural activity

Data and statistical summary for the paper - Modulation of social investigation by anterior hypothalamic nucleus rhythmic neural activityTHIS DATASET IS ARCHIVED AT DANS/EASY, BUT NOT ACCESSIBLE HERE. TO VIEW A LIST OF FILES AND ACCESS THE FILES IN THIS DATASET CLICK ON THE DOI-LINK ABOV

Raw data for paper - Sex-dependent features of social behavior differ between distinct laboratory mouse strains and their mixed offspring

The following dataset holds the data extracted using "TrackRodent" software for the paper "Sex-dependent features of social behavior differ between distinct laboratory mouse strains and their mixed offspring" by Natalia Kopachev, Shai Netser, and Shlomo Wagner.THIS DATASET IS ARCHIVED AT DANS/EASY, BUT NOT ACCESSIBLE HERE. TO VIEW A LIST OF FILES AND ACCESS THE FILES IN THIS DATASET CLICK ON THE DOI-LINK ABOV

Raw data for paper - Distinct dynamics of theta and gamma rhythmicity during social interaction suggest differential mode of action in the medial amygdala of SD rats and C57BL/6J mice

The following dataset holds the data extracted using "Distinct dynamics of theta and gamma rhythmicity during social interaction suggest differential mode of action in the medial amygdala of SD rats and C57BL/6J mice" by Shanah Rachel John, Wael Dagash, Alok Nath Mohapatra, Shai Netser, and Shlomo Wagner.THIS DATASET IS ARCHIVED AT DANS/EASY, BUT NOT ACCESSIBLE HERE. TO VIEW A LIST OF FILES AND ACCESS THE FILES IN THIS DATASET CLICK ON THE DOI-LINK ABOV

Data and statistical summary for the paper - Neural activity and theta rhythmicity in the anterior hypothalamic nucleus are involved in regulating social investigation

Data and statistical summary for the paper - Neural activity and theta rhythmicity in the anterior hypothalamic nucleus are involved in regulating social investigationTHIS DATASET IS ARCHIVED AT DANS/EASY, BUT NOT ACCESSIBLE HERE. TO VIEW A LIST OF FILES AND ACCESS THE FILES IN THIS DATASET CLICK ON THE DOI-LINK ABOV

Raw data for paper - Sex-dependent features of social behavior differ between distinct laboratory mouse strains and their mixed offspring

The following dataset holds the data extracted using "TrackRodent" software for the paper "Sex-dependent parameters of social behavior show marked variations between distinct laboratory mouse strains and their mixed offspring" by Natalia Kopachev, Shai Netser, and Shlomo Wagner.THIS DATASET IS ARCHIVED AT DANS/EASY, BUT NOT ACCESSIBLE HERE. TO VIEW A LIST OF FILES AND ACCESS THE FILES IN THIS DATASET CLICK ON THE DOI-LINK ABOV

Data for paper - TrackUSF, a novel tool for automated ultrasonic vocalization analysis, reveals modified calls in a rat model of autism

The attached file includes the final results of the analysis done by TrackUSF software for all datasets included in the paper:TrackUSF, a novel tool for automated ultrasonic vocalization analysis, reveals modified calls in a rat model of autism By - Shai Netser, Guy Nahardiya, Gili Weiss-Dicker, Roei Dadush, Yizhaq Goussha, Shanah John, Mor Taub, Yuval Werber, Nir Sapir, Yossi Yovel, Hala Harony-Nicolas, Joseph Buxbaum, Lior Cohen, Koby Crammer and Shlomo Wagner.THIS DATASET IS ARCHIVED AT DANS/EASY, BUT NOT ACCESSIBLE HERE. TO VIEW A LIST OF FILES AND ACCESS THE FILES IN THIS DATASET CLICK ON THE DOI-LINK ABOV

Results and statistical summary for the paper - Simultaneous recording of ultrasonic vocalizations and sniffing from socially interacting individual rats using a miniature microphone

Results and statistical summary for the paper - Simultaneous recording of ultrasonic vocalizations and sniffing from socially interacting individual rats using a miniature microphoneTHIS DATASET IS ARCHIVED AT DANS/EASY, BUT NOT ACCESSIBLE HERE. TO VIEW A LIST OF FILES AND ACCESS THE FILES IN THIS DATASET CLICK ON THE DOI-LINK ABOV

Raw data for paper - Sex-dependent parameters of social behavior show marked variations between distinct laboratory mouse strains and their mixed offspring

The following dataset holds the data extracted using "TrackRodent" software for the paper "Sex-dependent parameters of social behavior show marked variations between distinct laboratory mouse strains and their mixed offspring" by Natalia Kopachev, Shai Netser, and Shlomo Wagner.THIS DATASET IS ARCHIVED AT DANS/EASY, BUT NOT ACCESSIBLE HERE. TO VIEW A LIST OF FILES AND ACCESS THE FILES IN THIS DATASET CLICK ON THE DOI-LINK ABOV