Social Housing & Companionship

Social context increases ultrasonic vocalizations during restraint in adult mice

Adult mice emit many ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) during social interaction tasks, but only a few studies have yet reported USVs in stressed adult mice. Our aim was to study which experimental conditions favor USV emission during behaviors associated with different...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Restraint, Social Housing & Companionship, VocalizationAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Lefebvre, E., Granon, S., Chauveau, F. 2020. Social context increases ultrasonic vocalizations during restraint in adult mice. Animal Cognition 23(2), 351–359.

Automated cognitive testing of monkeys in social groups yields results comparable to individual laboratory-based testing

Cognitive abilities likely evolved in response to specific environmental and social challenges and are therefore expected to be specialized for the life history of each species. Specialized cognitive abilities may be most readily engaged under conditions that approximate the natural...

Year Published: 2013Topics: Behavioral & Cognitive Testing, Housing, Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Macaque, Nonhuman Primate

Citation: Gazes, R. P., Brown, E. K., Basile, B. M. et al. 2013. Automated cognitive testing of monkeys in social groups yields results comparable to individual laboratory-based testing. Animal Cognition 16(3), 445–458.

Emotional contagion of distress in young pigs is potentiated by previous exposure to the same stressor

This study tested whether emotional contagion occurs when piglets directly observe a penmate in distress (restraint) and whether there is an effect of previous experience on the response to subsequent restraint or exposure to conspecific distress. Piglets (49.7 ± 0.7...

Year Published: 2016Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Restraint, Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Pig

Citation: Goumon, S., Špinka, M. 2016. Emotional contagion of distress in young pigs is potentiated by previous exposure to the same stressor. Animal Cognition 19(3), 501–511.

Social vs Nonsocial housing differentially affects perseverative behavior in rats (Ratus norvegicus)

Perseverance, also commonly referred to as grit or industriousness, is the continued effort exerted to complete goal-directed tasks. Many factors, such as stress, can contribute to perseverative behavior, but the role of sociality on perseverance in animal models has not...

Year Published: 2019Topics: Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Hemmer, B. M., Parrish, A. E., Wise, T. B. et al. 2019. Social vs. Nonsocial housing differentially affects perseverative behavior in rats (Ratus norvegicus). Animal Behavior and Cognition 6(3), 168–178.

Mirror image stimulation could reverse social-isolation-induced aggressiveness in the high-level subsocial lactating spider

Conspecific aggressiveness often increases after social isolation for species that are not entirely solitary, and this increased aggression could also be reversed after resocialization. However, literature on this aggression plasticity refers to either permanently social or low-level subsocial species in...

Year Published: 2022Topics: Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Insect & Spider, Invertebrate

Citation: Dong, B., Liu, J.-X., Quan, R.-C. et al. 2022. Mirror image stimulation could reverse social-isolation-induced aggressiveness in the high-level subsocial lactating spider. Animal Cognition 25(5), 1345–1355.

Impact of prolonged chronic social isolation stress on behavior and multifractal complexity of metabolic rate in Octodon degus

Social interaction can improve animal performance through the prevention of stress-related events, the provision of security, and the enhancement of reproductive output and survival. We investigated the effects of prolonged chronic social isolation stress on behavioral, cognitive, and physiological performance...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Other Rodent, Rodent

Citation: Cavieres, G., Bozinovic, F., Bogdanovich, J. M. et al. 2023. Impact of prolonged chronic social isolation stress on behavior and multifractal complexity of metabolic rate in Octodon degus. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 17.

Adapted original music as an environmental enrichment in an intensive pig production system reduced aggression in weaned pigs during regrouping

In intensive swine production systems,, the practice of regrouping unfamiliar pigs is common, often leading to aggressive behavior. Although the effect of different musical genres composed for humans has been evaluated in pigs to mitigate aggression, there have been few...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Pig

Citation: Alvarez-Hernandez, N., Vallejo-Timarán, D., de Jesús Rodriguez, B. 2023. Adapted original music as an environmental enrichment in an intensive pig production system reduced aggression in weaned pigs during regrouping. Animals 13(23), 3599.

Wildtype peers rescue social play and 50-kHz ultrasonic vocalization deficits in juvenile female Cacna1c heterozygous rats

Healthy brain development depends on early social practices and experiences. The risk gene CACNA1C is implicated in numerous neuropsychiatric disorders, in which key characteristics include deficits in social functioning and communication. Recently, we reported sex-dependent impairments in social behavior and...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Bogdan, R., Kayumova, R., Schwarting, R. K. W. et al. 2023. Wildtype peers rescue social play and 50-kHz ultrasonic vocalization deficits in juvenile female Cacna1c heterozygous rats. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 17.

Social group during housing and testing modulates the effect of ethanol on zebrafish (Danio rerio) behavior

Zebrafish (Danio rerio) are a popular model organism in behavioral pharmacology research due to many genetic and neurological similarities with humans. As a social species, the presence (or absence) of conspecifics during housing and testing is likely to affect behavior,...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Behavioral & Cognitive Testing, Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Fish, Zebrafish

Citation: Alef, R., Blaser, R. E. 2023. Social group during housing and testing modulates the effect of ethanol on zebrafish (Danio rerio) behavior. Behavioural Processes 209, 104877.

Social buffering of the stress response: Insights from fishes

Social buffering of stress refers to the effect of a social partner in reducing the cortisol or corticosterone response to a stressor. It has been well studied in mammals, particularly those that form pair bonds. Recent studies on fishes suggest...

Year Published: 2022Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Fish, Other Fish, Salmon, Shark & Ray, Tilapia, Trout, Zebrafish

Citation: Gilmour, K. M., Bard, B. 2022. Social buffering of the stress response: Insights from fishes. Biology Letters 18(10), 20220332.