Abstract
Social behavior is often described as a unified concept, but highly social (group-living) species exhibit distinct social structures and may make different social decisions. Prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster) are socially monogamous rodents that often reside in extended family groups, and exhibit robust preferences for familiar social partners (same- and opposite-sex) during extended choice tests, although short-term preferences are not known. Mice (Mus musculus) are gregarious and colonial, but in brief laboratory tests of social preference they typically prefer social novelty. This preference for novel vs. familiar peers may represent a species-specific difference in social decision-making between mice and prairie voles. However, the tests used to measure preferences in each species differ markedly in duration and degree of contact, such that the behaviors cannot be directly compared. We assessed whether social preferences for novelty or familiarity differed between mice and prairie voles of both sexes when assessed with matching protocols: the sociability/social preference test (SPT) typically used in mice (short, no direct contact), and the partner preference test (PPT) used in voles (long, direct contact). A subset of voles also underwent a PPT using barriers (long, no direct contact). In the short SPT, behavior did not differ between species. In the longer test, pronounced partner preferences emerged in prairie voles, but mice exhibited no social preferences and rarely huddled. No sex differences were evident in either test. Direct physical contact was required for partner preferences in huddling time in voles, but preference for the partner chamber was evident with or without contact. Both prairie voles and mice are social, but they exhibit important differences in the specificity and extent of their social behavior. While mice are often used to study social approach and other behaviors, voles are a more suitable species for the study of selective social relationships. Consideration of these differences will be important for studies examining the neural mechanisms supporting different kinds of peer social behavior.
Highlights
Social groups are a common feature of many species; life in such groups can be supported by affiliative interactions among group members, as well as by lack of anti-social behaviors such as aggression and territoriality
Comparative Social Preferences in Mice and Voles studied in voles: prairie voles are socially monogamous rodents that show opposite-sex and same-sex preferences for a familiar partner, and meadow voles live in winter social groups and form enduring, selective partner preferences for adult peers (Beery et al, 2008, 2009; Ondrasek et al, 2015)
Because the behavioral tests used in mice and voles differ markedly, it is unknown whether these differences arise from differences in tests or from species-specific differences in social behavior in mice and voles
Summary
Social groups are a common feature of many species; life in such groups can be supported by affiliative interactions among group members, as well as by lack of anti-social behaviors such as aggression and territoriality. In order to assess social preference ( referred to as the social preference test, SPT), mice are presented with one novel and one familiar social stimulus under the pencil cups In this variant, males and females of multiple mouse strains (including oxytocin null mutants) preferred novel individuals (Moy et al, 2004; Crawley et al, 2007). Familiar animals in the SPT are typically only briefly familiarized with each other; they are not individuals with which lasting relationships are likely to have formed, reducing the likelihood of detecting preferences based on such relationships For these reasons, behavior may differ in important ways between these assessments, obscuring our understanding of species-specific differences in behavior
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