Nonphysical contact between cagemates alleviates the social isolation syndrome in C57BL/6 male mice.
Behavioral Neuroscience. 2008-01-01; 122(3): 505-515
DOI: 10.1037/0735-7044.122.3.505
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Pietropaolo S(1), Feldon J, Yee BK.
Author information:
(1)Laboratory of Behavioural Neurobiology, ETH Zurich, Schwerzenbach,
Switzerland.
In rodents, social isolation during the early postweaning phase induces several
behavioral abnormalities, commonly referred to as the isolation syndrome. We
attempted to identify the contribution of the selective deprivation of physical
contact to the emergence of the isolation syndrome. To this end, we devised a
pseudoisolated housing condition in which male 3-week-old C57BL/6 mice were
caged in pairs, but were separated by a transparent perforated partition
allowing only nonphysical contact, and compared it with the classical isolation
procedure and standard laboratory group housing. Locomotor activity, acoustic
startle reactivity, and amphetamine-induced hyperactivity were enhanced by
isolation, but neither anxiety nor prepulse inhibition of the acoustic startle
response was affected. Pseudoisolated mice were comparable to grouped controls
in their acoustic startle response and locomotor reactivity to amphetamine, but
they were as active as isolated animals in the predrug sessions of the open
field. Furthermore, pseudoisolation also exerted its own unique effects, namely,
anxiolysis. Our results demonstrated for the first time the relevance of
nonphysical contact including its ability to undermine the emergence of the
isolation syndrome in mice.
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