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Rystrom TL, Richter SH, Sachser N, Kaiser S. Social niche shapes social behavior and cortisol concentrations during adolescence in female guinea pigs. Horm Behav 2024; 162:105539. [PMID: 38608380 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2024.105539] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2023] [Revised: 03/07/2024] [Accepted: 03/27/2024] [Indexed: 04/14/2024]
Abstract
Individualized social niches arise in social groups, resulting in divergent social behavior profiles among group members. During sensitive life phases, the individualized social niche can profoundly impact the development of social behavior and associated phenotypes such as hormone (e.g. cortisol) concentrations. Focusing on adolescence, we investigated the relationship between the individualized social niche, social behavior, and cortisol concentrations (baseline and responsiveness) in female guinea pigs. Females were pair-housed in early adolescence (initial social pair formation), and a social niche transition was induced after six weeks by replacing the partner with either a larger or smaller female. Regarding social behavior, dominance status was associated with aggression in both the initial social pairs and after the social niche transition, and the results suggest that aggression was rapidly and completely reshaped after the social niche transition. Meanwhile, submissive behavior was rapidly reshaped after the social niche transition, but this was incomplete. The dominance status attained in the initial social pair affected the extent of submissive behavior after the social niche transition, and this effect was still detected three weeks after the social niche transition. Regarding cortisol concentrations, higher baseline cortisol concentrations were measured in dominant females in the initial social pairs. After the social niche transition, cortisol responsiveness significantly increased for the females paired with a larger, older female relative to those paired with a smaller, younger female. These findings demonstrate that the social niche during adolescence plays a significant role in shaping behavior and hormone concentrations in females.
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Affiliation(s)
- Taylor L Rystrom
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany; Münster Graduate School of Evolution, University of Münster, Münster, Germany.
| | - S Helene Richter
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany; Münster Graduate School of Evolution, University of Münster, Münster, Germany.
| | - Norbert Sachser
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany; Münster Graduate School of Evolution, University of Münster, Münster, Germany.
| | - Sylvia Kaiser
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany; Münster Graduate School of Evolution, University of Münster, Münster, Germany.
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Schiller D, Yu ANC, Alia-Klein N, Becker S, Cromwell HC, Dolcos F, Eslinger PJ, Frewen P, Kemp AH, Pace-Schott EF, Raber J, Silton RL, Stefanova E, Williams JHG, Abe N, Aghajani M, Albrecht F, Alexander R, Anders S, Aragón OR, Arias JA, Arzy S, Aue T, Baez S, Balconi M, Ballarini T, Bannister S, Banta MC, Barrett KC, Belzung C, Bensafi M, Booij L, Bookwala J, Boulanger-Bertolus J, Boutros SW, Bräscher AK, Bruno A, Busatto G, Bylsma LM, Caldwell-Harris C, Chan RCK, Cherbuin N, Chiarella J, Cipresso P, Critchley H, Croote DE, Demaree HA, Denson TF, Depue B, Derntl B, Dickson JM, Dolcos S, Drach-Zahavy A, Dubljević O, Eerola T, Ellingsen DM, Fairfield B, Ferdenzi C, Friedman BH, Fu CHY, Gatt JM, de Gelder B, Gendolla GHE, Gilam G, Goldblatt H, Gooding AEK, Gosseries O, Hamm AO, Hanson JL, Hendler T, Herbert C, Hofmann SG, Ibanez A, Joffily M, Jovanovic T, Kahrilas IJ, Kangas M, Katsumi Y, Kensinger E, Kirby LAJ, Koncz R, Koster EHW, Kozlowska K, Krach S, Kret ME, Krippl M, Kusi-Mensah K, Ladouceur CD, Laureys S, Lawrence A, Li CSR, Liddell BJ, Lidhar NK, Lowry CA, Magee K, Marin MF, Mariotti V, Martin LJ, Marusak HA, Mayer AV, Merner AR, Minnier J, Moll J, Morrison RG, Moore M, Mouly AM, Mueller SC, Mühlberger A, Murphy NA, Muscatello MRA, Musser ED, Newton TL, Noll-Hussong M, Norrholm SD, Northoff G, Nusslock R, Okon-Singer H, Olino TM, Ortner C, Owolabi M, Padulo C, Palermo R, Palumbo R, Palumbo S, Papadelis C, Pegna AJ, Pellegrini S, Peltonen K, Penninx BWJH, Pietrini P, Pinna G, Lobo RP, Polnaszek KL, Polyakova M, Rabinak C, Helene Richter S, Richter T, Riva G, Rizzo A, Robinson JL, Rosa P, Sachdev PS, Sato W, Schroeter ML, Schweizer S, Shiban Y, Siddharthan A, Siedlecka E, Smith RC, Soreq H, Spangler DP, Stern ER, Styliadis C, Sullivan GB, Swain JE, Urben S, Van den Stock J, Vander Kooij MA, van Overveld M, Van Rheenen TE, VanElzakker MB, Ventura-Bort C, Verona E, Volk T, Wang Y, Weingast LT, Weymar M, Williams C, Willis ML, Yamashita P, Zahn R, Zupan B, Lowe L. The Human Affectome. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2024; 158:105450. [PMID: 37925091 PMCID: PMC11003721 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105450] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2022] [Revised: 10/26/2023] [Accepted: 10/27/2023] [Indexed: 11/06/2023]
Abstract
Over the last decades, theoretical perspectives in the interdisciplinary field of the affective sciences have proliferated rather than converged due to differing assumptions about what human affective phenomena are and how they work. These metaphysical and mechanistic assumptions, shaped by academic context and values, have dictated affective constructs and operationalizations. However, an assumption about the purpose of affective phenomena can guide us to a common set of metaphysical and mechanistic assumptions. In this capstone paper, we home in on a nested teleological principle for human affective phenomena in order to synthesize metaphysical and mechanistic assumptions. Under this framework, human affective phenomena can collectively be considered algorithms that either adjust based on the human comfort zone (affective concerns) or monitor those adaptive processes (affective features). This teleologically-grounded framework offers a principled agenda and launchpad for both organizing existing perspectives and generating new ones. Ultimately, we hope the Human Affectome brings us a step closer to not only an integrated understanding of human affective phenomena, but an integrated field for affective research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniela Schiller
- Department of Psychiatry, the Nash Family Department of Neuroscience, and the Friedman Brain Institute, at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States.
| | - Alessandra N C Yu
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, United States.
| | - Nelly Alia-Klein
- Department of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States
| | - Susanne Becker
- Department of Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, J5, 68159 Mannheim, Germany; Integrative Spinal Research Group, Department of Chiropractic Medicine, University Hospital Balgrist, University of Zurich, Balgrist Campus, Lengghalde 5, 8008 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Howard C Cromwell
- J.P. Scott Center for Neuroscience, Mind and Behavior, Department of Psychology, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH 43403, United States
| | - Florin Dolcos
- Beckman Institute for Advanced Science & Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, United States; Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, United States
| | - Paul J Eslinger
- Departments of Neurology, Neural & Behavioral Science, Radiology, and Public Health Sciences, Penn State Hershey Medical Center and College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, United States
| | - Paul Frewen
- Departments of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
| | - Andrew H Kemp
- School of Psychology, Faculty of Medicine, Health & Life Science, Swansea University, Swansea, United Kingdom
| | - Edward F Pace-Schott
- Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, Boston, MA, United States; Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Jacob Raber
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, United States; Departments of Neurology, Radiation Medicine, Psychiatry, and Division of Neuroscience, ONPRC, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, United States
| | - Rebecca L Silton
- Department of Psychology, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Elka Stefanova
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Serbia; Neurology Clinic, Clinical Center of Serbia, Serbia
| | - Justin H G Williams
- Griffith University, Gold Coast Campus, 1 Parklands Dr, Southport, QLD 4215, Australia
| | - Nobuhito Abe
- Institute for the Future of Human Society, Kyoto University, 46 Shimoadachi-cho, Yoshida Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Moji Aghajani
- Institute of Education & Child Studies, Section Forensic Family & Youth Care, Leiden University, the Netherlands; Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam UMC, Location VUMC, GGZ InGeest Research & Innovation, Amsterdam Neuroscience, the Netherlands
| | - Franziska Albrecht
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany; Clinic for Cognitive Neurology, University Hospital Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany; Division of Physiotherapy, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; Karolinska University Hospital, Women's Health and Allied Health Professionals Theme, Medical unit Occupational Therapy & Physiotherapy, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Rebecca Alexander
- Neuroscience Research Australia, Randwick, Sydney, NSW, Australia; Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - Silke Anders
- Department of Neurology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany; Center of Brain, Behavior and Metabolism, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
| | - Oriana R Aragón
- Yale University, 2 Hillhouse Ave, New Haven, CT, United States; Cincinnati University, Marketing Department, 2906 Woodside Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45221-0145, United States
| | - Juan A Arias
- School of Psychology, Faculty of Medicine, Health & Life Science, Swansea University, Swansea, United Kingdom; Department of Statistics, Mathematical Analysis, and Operational Research, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Spain; The Galician Center for Mathematical Research and Technology (CITMAga), 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - Shahar Arzy
- Department of Medical Neurobiology, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Tatjana Aue
- Institute of Psychology, University of Bern, Fabrikstr. 8, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
| | | | - Michela Balconi
- International Research Center for Cognitive Applied Neuroscience, Catholic University of Milan, Milan, Italy
| | - Tommaso Ballarini
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Scott Bannister
- Durham University, Palace Green, DH1 RL3 Durham, United Kingdom
| | | | - Karen Caplovitz Barrett
- Department of Human Development & Family Studies, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, United States; Department of Community & Behavioral Health, Colorado School of Public Health, Denver, CO, United States
| | | | - Moustafa Bensafi
- Research Center in Neurosciences of Lyon, CNRS UMR5292, INSERM U1028, Claude Bernard University Lyon 1, Lyon, Centre Hospitalier Le Vinatier, 95 bd Pinel, 69675 Bron Cedex, France
| | - Linda Booij
- Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada; CHU Sainte-Justine, University of Montreal, Montreal, Canada
| | - Jamila Bookwala
- Department of Psychology, Lafayette College, Easton, PA, United States
| | - Julie Boulanger-Bertolus
- Department of Anesthesiology and Center for Consciousness Science, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
| | - Sydney Weber Boutros
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, United States
| | - Anne-Kathrin Bräscher
- Department of Clinical Psychology, Psychotherapy and Experimental Psychopathology, University of Mainz, Wallstr. 3, 55122 Mainz, Germany; Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY, United States
| | - Antonio Bruno
- Department of Biomedical, Dental Sciences and Morpho-Functional Imaging - University of Messina, Italy
| | - Geraldo Busatto
- Laboratory of Psychiatric Neuroimaging (LIM-21), Departamento e Instituto de Psiquiatria, Hospital das Clinicas HCFMUSP, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
| | - Lauren M Bylsma
- Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology; and the Center for Neural Basis of Cognition, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
| | | | - Raymond C K Chan
- Neuropsychology and Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Nicolas Cherbuin
- Centre for Research on Ageing, Health, and Wellbeing, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - Julian Chiarella
- Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada; CHU Sainte-Justine, University of Montreal, Montreal, Canada
| | - Pietro Cipresso
- Applied Technology for Neuro-Psychology Lab., Istituto Auxologico Italiano (IRCCS), Milan, Italy; Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | - Hugo Critchley
- Psychiatry, Department of Neuroscience, Brighton and Sussex Medical School (BSMS), University of Sussex, Sussex, United Kingdom
| | - Denise E Croote
- Departments of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Friedman Brain Institute, New York, NY 10029, United States; Hospital Universitário Gaffrée e Guinle, Universidade do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Heath A Demaree
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, United States
| | - Thomas F Denson
- School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Brendan Depue
- Departments of Psychological and Brain Sciences and Anatomical Sciences and Neurobiology, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, United States
| | - Birgit Derntl
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Tübingen Center for Mental Health, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Joanne M Dickson
- Edith Cowan University, Psychology Discipline, School of Arts and Humanities, 270 Joondalup Dr, Joondalup, WA 6027, Australia
| | - Sanda Dolcos
- Beckman Institute for Advanced Science & Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, United States; Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, United States
| | - Anat Drach-Zahavy
- The Faculty of Health and Welfare Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
| | - Olga Dubljević
- Neurology Clinic, Clinical Center of Serbia, Serbia; Institute for Biological Research "Siniša Stanković", National Institute of Republic of Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia
| | - Tuomas Eerola
- Durham University, Palace Green, DH1 RL3 Durham, United Kingdom
| | - Dan-Mikael Ellingsen
- Department of Diagnostic Physics, Division of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
| | - Beth Fairfield
- Department of Humanistic Studies, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy; UniCamillus, International Medical University, Rome, Italy
| | - Camille Ferdenzi
- Research Center in Neurosciences of Lyon, CNRS UMR5292, INSERM U1028, Claude Bernard University Lyon 1, Lyon, Centre Hospitalier Le Vinatier, 95 bd Pinel, 69675 Bron Cedex, France
| | - Bruce H Friedman
- Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, United States
| | - Cynthia H Y Fu
- School of Psychology, University of East London, United Kingdom; Centre for Affective Disorders, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, United Kingdom
| | - Justine M Gatt
- Neuroscience Research Australia, Randwick, Sydney, NSW, Australia; School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Randwick, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Beatrice de Gelder
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands
| | - Guido H E Gendolla
- Geneva Motivation Lab, University of Geneva, FPSE, Section of Psychology, CH-1211 Geneva 4, Switzerland
| | - Gadi Gilam
- The Institute of Biomedical and Oral Research, Faculty of Dental Medicine, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel; Systems Neuroscience and Pain Laboratory, Stanford University School of Medicine, CA, United States
| | - Hadass Goldblatt
- Department of Nursing, Faculty of Social Welfare & Health Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
| | | | - Olivia Gosseries
- Coma Science Group, GIGA Consciousness & Centre du Cerveau2, University and University Hospital of Liege, Liege, Belgium
| | - Alfons O Hamm
- Department of Biological and Clinical Psychology/Psychotherapy, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Jamie L Hanson
- Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15206, United States
| | - Talma Hendler
- Tel Aviv Center for Brain Function, Wohl Institute for Advanced Imaging, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel Aviv, Israel; School of Psychological Sciences, Tel-Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Cornelia Herbert
- Department of Applied Emotion and Motivation Psychology, Institute of Psychology and Education, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany
| | - Stefan G Hofmann
- Department of Clinical Psychology, Philipps University Marburg, Germany
| | - Agustin Ibanez
- Universidad de San Andres, Buenos Aires, Argentina; National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina; Latin American Brain Health Institute (BrainLat), Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago, Chile; Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI), University of California San Francisco (UCSF), United States and Trinity Collegue Dublin (TCD), Ireland
| | - Mateus Joffily
- Groupe d'Analyse et de Théorie Economique (GATE), 93 Chemin des Mouilles, 69130 Écully, France
| | - Tanja Jovanovic
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavaioral Neurosciences, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, United States
| | - Ian J Kahrilas
- Department of Psychology, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Maria Kangas
- Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
| | - Yuta Katsumi
- Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, United States; Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA
| | - Elizabeth Kensinger
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Boston College, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Lauren A J Kirby
- Department of Psychology and Counseling, University of Texas at Tyler, Tyler, TX, United States
| | - Rebecca Koncz
- Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing, Discipline of Psychiatry and Mental Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia; Specialty of Psychiatry, The University of Sydney, Concord, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Ernst H W Koster
- Department of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | | | - Sören Krach
- Social Neuroscience Lab, Translational Psychiatry Unit, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
| | - Mariska E Kret
- Leiden University, Cognitive Psychology, Pieter de la Court, Waassenaarseweg 52, Leiden 2333 AK, the Netherlands
| | - Martin Krippl
- Faculty of Natural Sciences, Department of Psychology, Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg, Universitätsplatz 2, Magdeburg, Germany
| | - Kwabena Kusi-Mensah
- Department of Psychiatry, Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, P. O. Box 1934, Kumasi, Ghana; Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Darwin College, Silver Street, CB3 9EU Cambridge, United Kingdom; Behavioural Sciences Department, School of Medicine and Dentistry, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana
| | - Cecile D Ladouceur
- Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology and the Center for Neural Basis of Cognition (CNBC), University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
| | - Steven Laureys
- Coma Science Group, GIGA Consciousness & Centre du Cerveau2, University and University Hospital of Liege, Liege, Belgium
| | - Alistair Lawrence
- Scotland's Rural College, King's Buildings, Edinburgh, Scotland; The Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush, Scotland
| | - Chiang-Shan R Li
- Connecticut Mental Health Centre, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States
| | - Belinda J Liddell
- School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Randwick, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Navdeep K Lidhar
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, ON, Canada
| | - Christopher A Lowry
- Department of Integrative Physiology and Center for Neuroscience, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, United States
| | - Kelsey Magee
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, United States
| | - Marie-France Marin
- Department of Psychology, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montreal, Canada; Research Center, Institut universitaire en santé mentale de Montréal, Montreal, Canada
| | - Veronica Mariotti
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
| | - Loren J Martin
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, ON, Canada
| | - Hilary A Marusak
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavaioral Neurosciences, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, United States; Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute for Child and Family Development, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, United States
| | - Annalina V Mayer
- Social Neuroscience Lab, Translational Psychiatry Unit, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
| | - Amanda R Merner
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, United States
| | - Jessica Minnier
- School of Public Health, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, United States
| | - Jorge Moll
- Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroinformatics Unit, D'Or Institute for Research and Education, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Robert G Morrison
- Department of Psychology, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Matthew Moore
- Beckman Institute for Advanced Science & Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, United States; Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, United States; War Related Illness and Injury Study Center (WRIISC), Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto, CA, United States
| | - Anne-Marie Mouly
- Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, CNRS-UMR 5292, INSERM U1028, Universite Lyon, Lyon, France
| | - Sven C Mueller
- Department of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Andreas Mühlberger
- Department of Psychology (Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy), University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
| | - Nora A Murphy
- Department of Psychology, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | | | - Erica D Musser
- Center for Children and Families, Department of Psychology, Florida International University, Miami, FL, United States
| | - Tamara L Newton
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, United States
| | - Michael Noll-Hussong
- Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, TU Muenchen, Langerstrasse 3, D-81675 Muenchen, Germany
| | - Seth Davin Norrholm
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavaioral Neurosciences, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, United States
| | - Georg Northoff
- Mind, Brain Imaging and Neuroethics Research Unit, University of Ottawa Institute of Mental Health Research, Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre, Canada
| | - Robin Nusslock
- Department of Psychology and Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, 2029 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL, United States
| | - Hadas Okon-Singer
- School of Psychological Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
| | - Thomas M Olino
- Department of Psychology, Temple University, 1701N. 13th St, Philadelphia, PA, United States
| | - Catherine Ortner
- Thompson Rivers University, Department of Psychology, 805 TRU Way, Kamloops, BC, Canada
| | - Mayowa Owolabi
- Department of Medicine and Center for Genomic and Precision Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan; University College Hospital, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria; Blossom Specialist Medical Center Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria
| | - Caterina Padulo
- Department of Psychological, Health and Territorial Sciences, University of Chieti, Chieti, Italy
| | - Romina Palermo
- School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia
| | - Rocco Palumbo
- Department of Psychological, Health and Territorial Sciences, University of Chieti, Chieti, Italy
| | - Sara Palumbo
- Department of Surgical, Medical and Molecular Pathology and of Critical Care, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
| | - Christos Papadelis
- Jane and John Justin Neuroscience Center, Cook Children's Health Care System, Fort Worth, TX, United States; Department of Bioengineering, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX, United States
| | - Alan J Pegna
- School of Psychology, University of Queensland, Saint Lucia, Queensland, Australia
| | - Silvia Pellegrini
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
| | - Kirsi Peltonen
- Research Centre for Child Psychiatry, University of Turku, Turku, Finland; INVEST Research Flagship, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Brenda W J H Penninx
- Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam UMC, Location VUMC, GGZ InGeest Research & Innovation, Amsterdam Neuroscience, the Netherlands
| | | | - Graziano Pinna
- The Psychiatric Institute, Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Rosario Pintos Lobo
- Center for Children and Families, Department of Psychology, Florida International University, Miami, FL, United States
| | - Kelly L Polnaszek
- Department of Psychology, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Maryna Polyakova
- Neurology Department, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Christine Rabinak
- Department of Pharmacy Practice, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, United States
| | - S Helene Richter
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Badestraße 13, Münster, Germany
| | - Thalia Richter
- School of Psychological Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
| | - Giuseppe Riva
- Applied Technology for Neuro-Psychology Lab., Istituto Auxologico Italiano (IRCCS), Milan, Italy; Humane Technology Lab., Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy
| | - Amelia Rizzo
- Department of Biomedical, Dental Sciences and Morpho-Functional Imaging - University of Messina, Italy
| | | | - Pedro Rosa
- Laboratory of Psychiatric Neuroimaging (LIM-21), Departamento e Instituto de Psiquiatria, Hospital das Clinicas HCFMUSP, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
| | - Perminder S Sachdev
- Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing, Discipline of Psychiatry and Mental Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia; Neuropsychiatric Institute, The Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney, Australia
| | - Wataru Sato
- Psychological Process Research Team, Guardian Robot Project, RIKEN, 2-2-2 Hikaridai, Seika-cho, Soraku-gun, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Matthias L Schroeter
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany; Clinic for Cognitive Neurology, University Hospital Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Susanne Schweizer
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom; School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
| | - Youssef Shiban
- Department of Psychology (Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy), University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany; Department of Psychology (Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy Research), PFH - Private University of Applied Sciences, Gottingen, Germany
| | - Advaith Siddharthan
- Knowledge Media Institute, The Open University, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA, United Kingdom
| | - Ewa Siedlecka
- School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Robert C Smith
- Departments of Medicine and Psychiatry, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, United States
| | - Hermona Soreq
- Department of Biological Chemistry, Edmond and Lily Safra Center of Brain Science and The Institute of Life Sciences, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Derek P Spangler
- Department of Biobehavioral Health, The Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA, United States
| | - Emily R Stern
- Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY, United States; New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States
| | - Charis Styliadis
- Neuroscience of Cognition and Affection group, Lab of Medical Physics and Digital Innovation, School of Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece
| | | | - James E Swain
- Departments of Psychiatry & Behavioral Health, Psychology, Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Medicine, and Program in Public Health, Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University, New York, United States
| | - Sébastien Urben
- Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Jan Van den Stock
- Neuropsychiatry, Department of Neurosciences, Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Michael A Vander Kooij
- Translational Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Universitatsmedizin der Johannes Guttenberg University Medical Center, Mainz, Germany
| | | | - Tamsyn E Van Rheenen
- University of Melbourne, Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of Psychiatry, 161 Barry Street, Carlton, VIC, Australia
| | - Michael B VanElzakker
- Division of Neurotherapeutics, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Carlos Ventura-Bort
- Department of Biological Psychology and Affective Science, Faculty of Human Sciences, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Edelyn Verona
- Department of Psychology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, United States
| | - Tyler Volk
- Professor Emeritus of Biology and Environmental Studies, New York University, New York, NY, United States
| | - Yi Wang
- Neuropsychology and Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Leah T Weingast
- Department of Social Work and Human Services and the Department of Psychological Sciences, Center for Young Adult Addiction and Recovery, Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, GA, United States
| | - Mathias Weymar
- Department of Biological Psychology and Affective Science, Faculty of Human Sciences, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany; Faculty of Health Sciences Brandenburg, University of Potsdam, Germany
| | - Claire Williams
- School of Psychology, Faculty of Medicine, Health & Life Science, Swansea University, Swansea, United Kingdom; Elysium Neurological Services, Elysium Healthcare, The Avalon Centre, United Kingdom
| | - Megan L Willis
- School of Behavioural and Health Sciences, Australian Catholic University, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Paula Yamashita
- Department of Integrative Physiology and Center for Neuroscience, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, United States
| | - Roland Zahn
- Centre for Affective Disorders, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, United Kingdom
| | - Barbra Zupan
- Central Queensland University, School of Health, Medical and Applied Sciences, Bruce Highway, Rockhampton, QLD, Australia
| | - Leroy Lowe
- Neuroqualia (NGO), Truro, Nova Scotia, Canada.
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3
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Kaiser MI, Gadau J, Kaiser S, Müller C, Richter SH. Individualized social niches in animals: Theoretical clarifications and processes of niche change. Bioscience 2024; 74:146-158. [PMID: 38560618 PMCID: PMC10977865 DOI: 10.1093/biosci/biad122] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2022] [Revised: 12/12/2023] [Indexed: 04/04/2024] Open
Abstract
What are social niches, and how do they arise and change? Our first goal in the present article is to clarify the concept of an individualized social niche and to distinguish it from related concepts, such as a social environment and a social role. We argue that focal individuals are integral parts of individualized social niches and that social interactions with conspecifics are further core elements of social niches. Our second goal in the present article is to characterize three types of processes-social niche construction, conformance, and choice (social NC3 processes)-that explain how individualized social niches originate and change. Our approach brings together studies of behavior, ecology, and evolution and integrates social niches into the broader concept of an individualized ecological niche. We show how clarifying the concept of a social niche and recognizing the differences between the three social NC3 processes enhance and stimulate empirical research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marie I Kaiser
- Department of Philosophy, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
- Joint Institute for Individualisation in a Changing Environment, University of Münster and Bielefeld University, Münster and in Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Jürgen Gadau
- Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
- Joint Institute for Individualisation in a Changing Environment, University of Münster and Bielefeld University, Münster and in Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Sylvia Kaiser
- Department of Behavioural Biology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
- Joint Institute for Individualisation in a Changing Environment, University of Münster and Bielefeld University, Münster and in Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Caroline Müller
- Department of Chemical Ecology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
- Joint Institute for Individualisation in a Changing Environment, University of Münster and Bielefeld University, Münster and in Bielefeld, Germany
| | - S Helene Richter
- Department of Behavioural Biology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
- Joint Institute for Individualisation in a Changing Environment, University of Münster and Bielefeld University, Münster and in Bielefeld, Germany
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4
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Richter SH. Challenging current scientific practice: how a shift in research methodology could reduce animal use. Lab Anim (NY) 2024; 53:9-12. [PMID: 38172390 PMCID: PMC10766537 DOI: 10.1038/s41684-023-01308-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/05/2024]
Affiliation(s)
- S Helene Richter
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany.
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von Kortzfleisch VT, Richter SH. Systematic heterogenization revisited: Increasing variation in animal experiments to improve reproducibility? J Neurosci Methods 2024; 401:109992. [PMID: 37884081 DOI: 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2023.109992] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2023] [Revised: 10/10/2023] [Accepted: 10/22/2023] [Indexed: 10/28/2023]
Abstract
Life sciences are currently facing a reproducibility crisis. Originally, the crisis was born out of single alarming failures to reproduce findings at different times and locations. Nowadays, systematic studies indicate that the prevalence of irreproducible research does in fact exceed 50%. Viewed from a rather cynical perspective, Fett's law of the lab "Never replicate a successful experiment" has thus taken on a completely new meaning. In this respect, animal research has come under particular scrutiny, as the stakes are high in terms of both research ethics and societal impact. To counteract this, it is essential to identify sources of poor reproducibility as well as to iron out these failures. We here review the current debate, briefly discuss potential reasons, and summarize steps that have already been undertaken to improve reproducibility in animal research. By the example of classical behavioural phenotyping studies, we particularly highlight the role strict standardization plays in exacerbating the crisis, and review the concept of systematic heterogenization as an alternative strategy to deal with variation in animal studies. Briefly, we argue that systematic variation rather than strict homogenization of experimental conditions benefits the robustness of research findings, and hence their reproducibility. To this end, we will present concrete examples for systematically heterogenized experiments and provide a practical guide on how to apply systematic heterogenization in experimental practice.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - S Helene Richter
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Badestraße 13, 48149 Münster, Germany.
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6
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Bohn L, Bierbaum L, Kästner N, von Kortzfleisch VT, Kaiser S, Sachser N, Richter SH. Structural enrichment for laboratory mice: exploring the effects of novelty and complexity. Front Vet Sci 2023; 10:1207332. [PMID: 37841462 PMCID: PMC10570735 DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2023.1207332] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2023] [Accepted: 09/14/2023] [Indexed: 10/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Providing structural enrichment is a widespread refinement method for laboratory rodents and other animals in captivity. So far, animal welfare research has mostly focused on the effect of increased complexity either by accumulating or combining different enrichment items. However, increasing complexity is not the only possibility to refine housing conditions. Another refinement option is to increase novelty by regularly exchanging known enrichment items with new ones. In the present study, we used pair-housed non-breeding female C57BL/6J and DBA/2N mice to investigate the effect of novelty when applying structural enrichment. We used a double cage system, in which one cage served as home cage and the other as extra cage. While the home cage was furnished in the same way for all mice, in the extra cage we either provided only space with no additional enrichment items (space), a fixed set of enrichment items (complexity), or a changing set of enrichment items (novelty). Over 5 weeks, we assessed spontaneous behaviors, body weight, and extra cage usage as indicators of welfare and preference. Our main results showed that mice with access to structurally enriched extra cages (complexity and novelty) spent more time in their extra cages and complexity mice had lower latencies to enter their extra cages than mice with access to the extra cages without any structural enrichment (space). This indicates that the mice preferred the structurally enriched extra cages over the structurally non-enriched space cages. We found only one statistically significant difference between the novelty and complexity condition: during week 3, novelty mice spent more time in their extra cages than complexity mice. Although we did not detect any other significant differences between the novelty and complexity condition in the present study, more research is required to further explore the potential benefits of novelty beyond complexity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lena Bohn
- Department of Behavioural Biology, Institute of Neuro- and Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
- Münster Graduate School of Evolution, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Louisa Bierbaum
- Department of Behavioural Biology, Institute of Neuro- and Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
- Münster Graduate School of Evolution, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Niklas Kästner
- Department of Behavioural Biology, Institute of Neuro- and Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
- Münster Graduate School of Evolution, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | | | - Sylvia Kaiser
- Department of Behavioural Biology, Institute of Neuro- and Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
- Münster Graduate School of Evolution, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Norbert Sachser
- Department of Behavioural Biology, Institute of Neuro- and Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
- Münster Graduate School of Evolution, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - S. Helene Richter
- Department of Behavioural Biology, Institute of Neuro- and Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
- Münster Graduate School of Evolution, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
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Mutwill AM, Schielzeth H, Richter SH, Kaiser S, Sachser N. Conditional on the social environment? Roots of repeatability in hormone concentrations of male guinea pigs. Horm Behav 2023; 155:105423. [PMID: 37713739 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2023.105423] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2023] [Revised: 08/20/2023] [Accepted: 08/23/2023] [Indexed: 09/17/2023]
Abstract
Individual differences in behavioral and physiological traits among members of the same species are increasingly being recognized as important in animal research. On the group level, shaping of behavioral and hormonal phenotypes by environmental factors has been reported in different taxa. The extent to which the environment impacts behavior and hormones on the individual level, however, is rather unexplored. Hormonal phenotypes of guinea pigs can be shaped by the social environment on the group level: pair-housed and colony-housed males differ systematically in average testosterone and stressor-induced cortisol levels (i.e. cortisol responsiveness). The aim of the present study was to evaluate whether repeatability and individual variance components (i.e. between- and within-individual variation) of hormonal phenotypes also differ in different social environments. To test this, we determined baseline testosterone, baseline cortisol, and cortisol responsiveness after challenge in same-aged pair-housed and colony-housed guinea pig males over a period of four months. We found comparable repeatability for baseline cortisol and cortisol responsiveness in males from both social conditions. In contrast, baseline testosterone was repeatable only in males from colonies. Interestingly, this result was brought about by significantly larger between-individual variation of testosterone, that was not explained by differences in dominance rank. Individualized social niches differentiated under complex colony, but not pair housing, could be an explanation for this finding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandra M Mutwill
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Badestr. 13, 48149 Münster, Germany.
| | - Holger Schielzeth
- Population Ecology Group, Institute of Ecology, Friedrich Schiller University, Dornburgerstr. 159, 07743 Jena, Germany
| | - S Helene Richter
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Badestr. 13, 48149 Münster, Germany
| | - Sylvia Kaiser
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Badestr. 13, 48149 Münster, Germany
| | - Norbert Sachser
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Badestr. 13, 48149 Münster, Germany
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Quante SM, Siewert V, Palme R, Kaiser S, Sachser N, Richter SH. The power of a touch: Regular touchscreen training but not its termination affects hormones and behavior in mice. Front Behav Neurosci 2023; 17:1112780. [PMID: 37008998 PMCID: PMC10060536 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2023.1112780] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2022] [Accepted: 02/21/2023] [Indexed: 03/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Touchscreen-based procedures are increasingly used in experimental animal research. They not only represent a promising approach for translational research, but have also been highlighted as a powerful tool to reduce potential experimenter effects in animal studies. However, to prepare the animals for a touchscreen-based test, an often time-consuming training phase is required that has itself been shown to cause increased adrenocortical activity and anxiety-like behavior in mice. While these findings point at a potentially negative effect of touchscreen training at first glance, results have also been discussed in light of an enriching effect of touchscreen training. The aim of the present study was therefore to shed more light on recently reported touchscreen training effects, with a particular focus on the termination of the training routine. Specifically, we investigated whether the termination of regular touchscreen training could constitute a loss of enrichment for mice. Thus, we assessed fecal corticosterone metabolites (FCMs), exploratory-, anxiety-like and home cage behavior in touchscreen-trained mice in comparison to food restricted and ad libitum fed mice, as a restricted diet is an integral part of the training process. Furthermore, we compared these parameters between mice that were continuously trained and mice whose training was terminated 2 weeks earlier. Our results confirm previous findings showing that a mild food restriction increases the animals' exploratory behavior and shifts their activity rhythm. Moreover, touchscreen training was found to increase FCM levels and anxiety-like behavior of the mice. However, no effect of the termination of touchscreen training could be detected, a finding which contradicts the enrichment loss hypothesis. Therefore, we discuss two alternative explanations for the findings. Yet, the current state of knowledge is not sufficient to draw final conclusions at this stage. In compliance with the refinement endeavors for laboratory animals, further research should assess the severity of touchscreen procedures to ensure a responsible and well-founded use of animals for experimental purposes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sophia Marie Quante
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
- *Correspondence: Sophia Marie Quante
| | - Viktoria Siewert
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Rupert Palme
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria
| | - Sylvia Kaiser
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Norbert Sachser
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - S. Helene Richter
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
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Stieger B, Wesseler Y, Kaiser S, Sachser N, Richter SH. Behavioral lateralization of mice varying in serotonin transporter genotype. Front Behav Neurosci 2023; 16:1095567. [PMID: 36710954 PMCID: PMC9875089 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2022.1095567] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2022] [Accepted: 12/21/2022] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
In humans, non-right-handedness is associated with a higher incidence of psychiatric disorders. Since serotonin seems to be involved in both, the development of psychiatric disorders and lateralization, the present study focuses on the effect of the serotonin transporter (5-HTT) gene on behavioral lateralization. For this, we used the 5-HTT knockout mouse model, a well-established animal model for the study of human depression and anxiety disorders. For female mice from all three 5-HTT genotypes (wild type, heterozygous, and homozygous knockout), we repeatedly observed the direction and strength of lateralization of the following four behaviors: grid climbing (GC), food-reaching in an artificial test situation (FRT), self-grooming (SG), and barrier crossing (BC), with the FRT being the standard test for assessing behavioral lateralization in mice. We found no association between behavioral lateralization and 5-HTT genotype. However, in accordance with previous findings, the strength and temporal consistency of lateralization differed between the four behaviors observed. In conclusion, since the 5-HTT genotype did not affect behavioral lateralization in mice, more research on other factors connected with behavioral lateralization and the development of symptoms of psychiatric disorders, such as environmental influences, is needed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Binia Stieger
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany,DFG Research Training Group EvoPAD, University of Münster, Münster, Germany,*Correspondence: Binia Stieger,
| | - Yvonne Wesseler
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Sylvia Kaiser
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany,DFG Research Training Group EvoPAD, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Norbert Sachser
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany,DFG Research Training Group EvoPAD, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - S. Helene Richter
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany,DFG Research Training Group EvoPAD, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
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10
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Kaiser S, Korte A, Wistuba J, Baldy M, Wissmann A, Dubičanac M, Richter SH, Sachser N. Effects of castration and sterilization on baseline and response levels of cortisol-A case study in male guinea pigs. Front Vet Sci 2023; 9:1093157. [PMID: 36686163 PMCID: PMC9853291 DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2022.1093157] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2022] [Accepted: 12/14/2022] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
An uncontrolled reproduction of animals in human hands should be avoided. To meet this goal, animals are widely castrated, i.e., the gonads are completely removed. Since the gonads are the most important source of sex hormones, this is a serious intervention in the entire endocrine system of an organism. Sterilization is a much less invasive procedure. Thus, it could have advantages over castration. Therefore, the overall aim of this study was to analyze the effect of castration vs. sterilization on the release of glucocorticoids, i.e., an important indicator for welfare. Taking domestic guinea pigs as a model system, we studied baseline and response cortisol values (cortisol is the main glucocorticoid in guinea pigs) in castrated, sterilized, sham-operated and intact males and baseline values in their cohoused females. Whereas baseline values of males did not differ between the groups, castrated males showed significantly higher cortisol response levels than intact, sham-operated and sterilized males. Females housed with castrated, sterilized, sham-operated or intact males did not differ in their cortisol concentrations, neither shortly after being placed with the respective male or after being co-housed for several weeks. Overall, the results support the hypothesis that castrated males exhibited a higher cortisol responsiveness during acute challenge which could point to a generalized impaired welfare of castrated males in comparison to intact, sham-operated and sterilized males. Our results provide first evidence for a potential negative impact of castration on the animals' welfare, while at the same time pointing toward sterilization representing a less invasive, promising alternative. Therefore, the results may stimulate future research on this topic to further detect potential welfare-related side effects of castration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sylvia Kaiser
- Department of Behavioral Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany,*Correspondence: Sylvia Kaiser ✉
| | - Annika Korte
- Department of Behavioral Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Joachim Wistuba
- Institute of Reproductive and Regenerative Biology, Centre of Reproductive Medicine and Andrology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Maximilian Baldy
- Department of Behavioral Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Andreas Wissmann
- Central Animal Facility, University Clinic, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - Marko Dubičanac
- Central Animal Facility, University Clinic, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - S. Helene Richter
- Department of Behavioral Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Norbert Sachser
- Department of Behavioral Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
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11
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Herrera-Rivero M, Bohn L, Witten A, Jüngling K, Kaiser S, Richter SH, Stoll M, Sachser N. Transcriptional profiles in the mouse amygdala after a cognitive judgment bias test largely depend on the genotype. Front Mol Neurosci 2022; 15:1025389. [DOI: 10.3389/fnmol.2022.1025389] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2022] [Accepted: 10/04/2022] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Background: The amygdala is crucial for emotional cognitive processing. Affective or emotional states can bias cognitive processes, including attention, memory, and decision-making. This can result in optimistic or pessimistic behaviors that are partially driven by the activation of the amygdala. The resulting emotional cognitive bias is a common feature of anxiety and mood disorders, both of which are interactively influenced by genetic and environmental factors. It is also known that emotional cognitive biases can be influenced by environmental factors. However, little is known about the effects of genetics and/or gene-environment interactions on emotional cognitive biases. We investigated the effects of the genetic background and environmental enrichment on the transcriptional profiles of the mouse amygdala following a well-established cognitive bias test.Methods: Twenty-four female C57BL/6J and B6D2F1N mice were housed either in standard (control) conditions or in an enriched environment. After appropriate training, the cognitive bias test was performed on 19 mice that satisfactorily completed the training scheme to assess their responses to ambiguous cues. This allowed us to calculate an “optimism score” for each mouse. Subsequently, we dissected the anterior and posterior portions of the amygdala to perform RNA-sequencing for differential expression and other statistical analyses.Results: In general, we found only minor changes in the amygdala’s transcriptome associated with the levels of optimism in our mice. In contrast, we observed wide molecular effects of the genetic background in both housing environments. The C57BL/6J animals showed more transcriptional changes in response to enriched environments than the B6D2F1N mice. We also generally found more dysregulated genes in the posterior than in the anterior portion of the amygdala. Gene set overrepresentation analyses consistently implicated cellular metabolic responses and immune processes in the differences observed between mouse strains, while processes favoring neurogenesis and neurotransmission were implicated in the responses to environmental enrichment. In a correlation analysis, lipid metabolism in the anterior amygdala was suggested to influence the levels of optimism.Conclusions: Our observations underscore the importance of selecting appropriate animal models when performing molecular studies of affective conditions or emotional states, and suggest an important role of immune and stress responses in the genetic component of emotion regulation.
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Jaric I, Voelkl B, Clerc M, Schmid MW, Novak J, Rosso M, Rufener R, von Kortzfleisch VT, Richter SH, Buettner M, Bleich A, Amrein I, Wolfer DP, Touma C, Sunagawa S, Würbel H. The rearing environment persistently modulates mouse phenotypes from the molecular to the behavioural level. PLoS Biol 2022; 20:e3001837. [PMID: 36269766 PMCID: PMC9629646 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3001837] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2022] [Revised: 11/02/2022] [Accepted: 09/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
Abstract
The phenotype of an organism results from its genotype and the influence of the environment throughout development. Even when using animals of the same genotype, independent studies may test animals of different phenotypes, resulting in poor replicability due to genotype-by-environment interactions. Thus, genetically defined strains of mice may respond differently to experimental treatments depending on their rearing environment. However, the extent of such phenotypic plasticity and its implications for the replicability of research findings have remained unknown. Here, we examined the extent to which common environmental differences between animal facilities modulate the phenotype of genetically homogeneous (inbred) mice. We conducted a comprehensive multicentre study, whereby inbred C57BL/6J mice from a single breeding cohort were allocated to and reared in 5 different animal facilities throughout early life and adolescence, before being transported to a single test laboratory. We found persistent effects of the rearing facility on the composition and heterogeneity of the gut microbial community. These effects were paralleled by persistent differences in body weight and in the behavioural phenotype of the mice. Furthermore, we show that environmental variation among animal facilities is strong enough to influence epigenetic patterns in neurons at the level of chromatin organisation. We detected changes in chromatin organisation in the regulatory regions of genes involved in nucleosome assembly, neuronal differentiation, synaptic plasticity, and regulation of behaviour. Our findings demonstrate that common environmental differences between animal facilities may produce facility-specific phenotypes, from the molecular to the behavioural level. Furthermore, they highlight an important limitation of inferences from single-laboratory studies and thus argue that study designs should take environmental background into account to increase the robustness and replicability of findings. The phenotype of an organism results not only from its genotype but also the influence of its environment throughout development. This study shows that common environmental differences between animal facilities can induce substantial variation in the phenotype of mice, thereby highlighting an important limitation of inferences from single-laboratory studies in animal research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ivana Jaric
- Animal Welfare Division, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
- * E-mail: (IJ); (HW)
| | - Bernhard Voelkl
- Animal Welfare Division, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Melanie Clerc
- Department of Biology, Institute of Microbiology and Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
| | | | - Janja Novak
- Animal Welfare Division, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Marianna Rosso
- Animal Welfare Division, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Reto Rufener
- Department of Oncology-Pathology, Karolinska Institutet, Solna, Sweden
| | | | - S. Helene Richter
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Manuela Buettner
- Institute for Laboratory Animal Science and Central Animal Facility, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
| | - André Bleich
- Institute for Laboratory Animal Science and Central Animal Facility, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
| | - Irmgard Amrein
- Institute of Anatomy, Division of Functional Neuroanatomy, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland; Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - David P. Wolfer
- Institute of Anatomy, Division of Functional Neuroanatomy, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland; Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Chadi Touma
- Department of Behavioural Biology, Osnabrück University, Osnabrück, Germany
| | - Shinichi Sunagawa
- Department of Biology, Institute of Microbiology and Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Hanno Würbel
- Animal Welfare Division, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
- * E-mail: (IJ); (HW)
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Bračić M, Bohn L, Siewert V, von Kortzfleisch VT, Schielzeth H, Kaiser S, Sachser N, Richter SH. Once an optimist, always an optimist? Studying cognitive judgment bias in mice. Behav Ecol 2022; 33:775-788. [PMID: 35812364 PMCID: PMC9262167 DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arac040] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2021] [Revised: 02/23/2022] [Accepted: 03/31/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Individuals differ in the way they judge ambiguous information: some individuals interpret ambiguous information in a more optimistic, and others in a more pessimistic way. Over the past two decades, such "optimistic" and "pessimistic" cognitive judgment biases (CJBs) have been utilized in animal welfare science as indicators of animals' emotional states. However, empirical studies on their ecological and evolutionary relevance are still lacking. We, therefore, aimed at transferring the concept of "optimism" and "pessimism" to behavioral ecology and investigated the role of genetic and environmental factors in modulating CJB in mice. In addition, we assessed the temporal stability of individual differences in CJB. We show that the chosen genotypes (C57BL/6J and B6D2F1N) and environments ("scarce" and "complex") did not have a statistically significant influence on the responses in the CJB test. By contrast, they influenced anxiety-like behavior with C57BL/6J mice and mice from the "complex" environment displaying less anxiety-like behavior than B6D2F1N mice and mice from the "scarce" environment. As the selected genotypes and environments did not explain the existing differences in CJB, future studies might investigate the impact of other genotypes and environmental conditions on CJB, and additionally, elucidate the role of other potential causes like endocrine profiles and epigenetic modifications. Furthermore, we show that individual differences in CJB were repeatable over a period of seven weeks, suggesting that CJB represents a temporally stable trait in laboratory mice. Therefore, we encourage the further study of CJB within an animal personality framework.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marko Bračić
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
- Münster Graduate School of Evolution, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Lena Bohn
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
- Münster Graduate School of Evolution, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Viktoria Siewert
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | | | - Holger Schielzeth
- Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Jena, Germany
| | - Sylvia Kaiser
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
- Münster Graduate School of Evolution, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Norbert Sachser
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
- Münster Graduate School of Evolution, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - S Helene Richter
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
- Münster Graduate School of Evolution, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
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Feige-Diller J, Herrera-Rivero M, Witten A, Stoll M, Kaiser S, Richter SH, Sachser N. The Impact of Varying Food Availability on Gene Expression in the Liver: Testing the Match-Mismatch Hypothesis. Front Nutr 2022; 9:910762. [PMID: 35859757 PMCID: PMC9289739 DOI: 10.3389/fnut.2022.910762] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2022] [Accepted: 06/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Background During early phases of life, such as prenatal or early postnatal development and adolescence, an organism's phenotype can be shaped by the environmental conditions it experiences. According to the Match-Mismatch hypothesis (MMH), changes to this environment during later life stages can result in a mismatch between the individual's adaptations and the prevailing environmental conditions. Thus, negative consequences in welfare and health can occur. We aimed to test the MMH in the context of food availability, assuming adolescence as a sensitive period of adaptation. Methods We have previously reported a study of the physiological and behavioral effects of match and mismatch conditions of high (ad libitum) and low (90% of ad libitum intake) food availability from adolescence to early adulthood in female C57BL/6J mice (n = 62). Here, we performed RNA-sequencing of the livers of a subset of these animals (n = 16) to test the effects of match and mismatch feeding conditions on the liver transcriptome. Results In general, we found no effect of the match-mismatch situations. Contrarily, the amount of food available during early adulthood (low vs. high) drove the differences we observed in final body weight and gene expression in the liver, regardless of the amount of food available to the animals during adolescence. Many of the differentially expressed genes and the corresponding biological processes found to be overrepresented overlapped, implicating common changes in various domains. These included metabolism, homeostasis, cellular responses to diverse stimuli, transport of bile acids and other molecules, cell differentiation, major urinary proteins, and immunity and inflammation. Conclusions Our previous and present observations found no support for the MMH in the context of low vs high food availability from adolescence to early adulthood in female C57BL/6J mice. However, even small differences of approximately 10% in food availability during early adulthood resulted in physiological and molecular changes with potential beneficial implications for metabolic diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Janina Feige-Diller
- Department of Behavioral Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
- DFG RTG EvoPAD, WWU Münster, Münster, Germany
- Janina Feige-Diller
| | - Marisol Herrera-Rivero
- Department of Genetic Epidemiology, Institute of Human Genetics, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
- *Correspondence: Marisol Herrera-Rivero ;
| | - Anika Witten
- Department of Genetic Epidemiology, Institute of Human Genetics, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
- Core Facility Genomics, Medical Faculty, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Monika Stoll
- DFG RTG EvoPAD, WWU Münster, Münster, Germany
- Department of Genetic Epidemiology, Institute of Human Genetics, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Sylvia Kaiser
- Department of Behavioral Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - S. Helene Richter
- Department of Behavioral Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
- DFG RTG EvoPAD, WWU Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Norbert Sachser
- Department of Behavioral Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
- DFG RTG EvoPAD, WWU Münster, Münster, Germany
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15
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Stieger B, Palme R, Kaiser S, Sachser N, Helene Richter S. When left is right: The effects of paw preference training on behaviour in mice. Behav Brain Res 2022; 430:113929. [PMID: 35595059 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2022.113929] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2022] [Revised: 05/04/2022] [Accepted: 05/12/2022] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Spontaneous limb preferences exist in numerous species. To investigate the underlying mechanisms of these preferences, different methods, such as training, have been developed to shift preferences artificially. However, studies that systematically examine the effects of shifting preferences on behaviour and physiology are largely missing. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the impact of shifting paw preferences via training on spontaneous home cage behaviour, as well as anxiety-like behaviour and exploratory locomotion (Elevated plus maze test, Dark light test, Open field test, Free exploration test), learning performance (Labyrinth-maze) and stress hormones (fecal corticosterone metabolites) in laboratory mice (Mus musculus f. domestica). For this, we assessed spontaneous paw preferences of C57BL/6J females (Nambilateral = 23, Nleft = 23, Nright = 25). Subsequently, half of the individuals from each category were trained once a week for four weeks in a food-reaching task to use either their left or right paw, respectively, resulting in six groups: AL, AR, LL, LR, RL, RR. After training, a battery of behavioural tests was performed and spontaneous preferences were assessed again. Our results indicate that most mice were successfully trained and the effect of training was present days after training. However, a significant difference of preferences between RL and LL mice during training suggests a rather low training success of RL mice. Additionally, preferences of L mice differed from those of A and R mice after training, indicating differential long-term effects of training in these groups. Furthermore, left paw training led to higher levels of self-grooming, possibly as a displacement behaviour, and more time spent in the light compartment of the Dark light test. However, overall, there was no systematic influence of training on behavioural measures and stress hormones. Different explanations for this lack of influence, such as the link between training and hemispheric functioning or the intensity and ecological relevance of the training, are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Binia Stieger
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Badestr. 13, 48149 Münster, Germany; DFG Research Training Group EvoPAD, University of Münster, Hüfferstr. 1a, 48149 Münster, Germany.
| | - Rupert Palme
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Veterinary Medicine, Veterinärplatz 1, A-1210 Vienna, Austria.
| | - Sylvia Kaiser
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Badestr. 13, 48149 Münster, Germany; DFG Research Training Group EvoPAD, University of Münster, Hüfferstr. 1a, 48149 Münster, Germany.
| | - Norbert Sachser
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Badestr. 13, 48149 Münster, Germany; DFG Research Training Group EvoPAD, University of Münster, Hüfferstr. 1a, 48149 Münster, Germany.
| | - S Helene Richter
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Badestr. 13, 48149 Münster, Germany; DFG Research Training Group EvoPAD, University of Münster, Hüfferstr. 1a, 48149 Münster, Germany.
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Rystrom TL, Prawitt RC, Richter SH, Sachser N, Kaiser S. Repeatability of endocrine traits and dominance rank in female guinea pigs. Front Zool 2022; 19:4. [PMID: 35031061 PMCID: PMC8760769 DOI: 10.1186/s12983-021-00449-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2021] [Accepted: 12/16/2021] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Glucocorticoids (e.g. cortisol) are associated with variation in social behavior, and previous studies have linked baseline as well as challenge-induced glucocorticoid concentrations to dominance status. It is known that cortisol response to an acute challenge is repeatable and correlates to social behavior in males of many mammal species. However, it is unclear whether these patterns are also consistent for females. The aim of this study was to investigate whether baseline and response cortisol concentrations are repeatable in female guinea pigs (Cavia aperea f. porcellus) and whether dominance rank is stable and correlated to baseline cortisol concentration and/or cortisol responsiveness. RESULTS Our results show that cortisol responsiveness (after 1 h: R = 0.635, 95% CI = 0.229, 0.927; after 2 h: R = 0.764, 95% CI = 0.433, 0.951) and dominance rank (R = 0.709, 95% CI = 0.316, 0.935) of females were significantly repeatable after six weeks but not correlated. Baseline cortisol was not repeatable (R = 0, 95% CI = 0, 0.690) and also did not correlate to dominance rank. Furthermore, the difference in repeatability estimates of baseline and response values was due to high within-individual variance of baseline cortisol concentration; the amount of between-individual variance was similar for baseline cortisol and the two measures of cortisol responsiveness. CONCLUSIONS Females occupying different dominance ranks did not have long-term differences in cortisol concentrations, and cortisol responsiveness does not seem to be significantly involved in the maintenance of dominance rank. Overall, this study reveals the remarkable stability of cortisol responsiveness and dominance rank in a female rodent, and it remains an open question whether the magnitude of cortisol responsiveness is adaptive in social contexts for females.
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Affiliation(s)
- Taylor L Rystrom
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Badestr. 13, 48149, Münster, Germany. .,Münster Graduate School of Evolution, University of Münster, Hüfferstr. 1a, 48149, Münster, Germany.
| | - Romy C Prawitt
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Badestr. 13, 48149, Münster, Germany
| | - S Helene Richter
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Badestr. 13, 48149, Münster, Germany.,Münster Graduate School of Evolution, University of Münster, Hüfferstr. 1a, 48149, Münster, Germany
| | - Norbert Sachser
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Badestr. 13, 48149, Münster, Germany.,Münster Graduate School of Evolution, University of Münster, Hüfferstr. 1a, 48149, Münster, Germany
| | - Sylvia Kaiser
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Badestr. 13, 48149, Münster, Germany.,Münster Graduate School of Evolution, University of Münster, Hüfferstr. 1a, 48149, Münster, Germany
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17
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Mutwill AM, Schielzeth H, Zimmermann TD, Richter SH, Kaiser S, Sachser N. Individuality meets plasticity: Endocrine phenotypes across male dominance rank acquisition in guinea pigs living in a complex social environment. Horm Behav 2021; 131:104967. [PMID: 33862349 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2021.104967] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2020] [Revised: 03/08/2021] [Accepted: 03/09/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
The time of dominance rank acquisition is a crucial phase in male life history that often affects reproductive success and hence fitness. Hormones such as testosterone and glucocorticoids can influence as well as be affected by this process. At the same time, hormone concentrations can show large individual variation. The extent to which such variation is repeatable, particularly in dynamic social settings, is a question of current interest. The aim of the present study was therefore to investigate how dominance rank and individual differences contribute to variance in hormone concentrations during male rank acquisition in a complex social environment. For this purpose, dominance rank as well as baseline testosterone, baseline cortisol, and cortisol responsiveness after exposure to a novel environment were determined in colony-housed guinea pig males from late adolescence through adulthood. Hormone-dominance relationships and repeatability of hormone measures beyond their relation to rank were assessed. There was a significant positive relationship between baseline testosterone and rank, but this link became weaker with increasing age. Baseline cortisol or cortisol responsiveness, in contrast, were not significantly related to dominance. Notably, all three endocrine parameters were significantly repeatable independent of dominance rank from late adolescence through adulthood. Baseline testosterone and cortisol responsiveness showed a significantly higher repeatability than baseline cortisol. This suggests that testosterone titres and cortisol responsiveness represent stable individual attributes even under complex social conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandra M Mutwill
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Badestr. 13, 48149 Münster, Germany; Münster Graduate School of Evolution, University of Münster, Hüfferstr. 1a, 48149 Münster, Germany.
| | - Holger Schielzeth
- Population Ecology Group, Institute of Ecology, Friedrich Schiller University, Dornburgerstr. 159, 07743 Jena, Germany
| | - Tobias D Zimmermann
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Badestr. 13, 48149 Münster, Germany
| | - S Helene Richter
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Badestr. 13, 48149 Münster, Germany; Münster Graduate School of Evolution, University of Münster, Hüfferstr. 1a, 48149 Münster, Germany
| | - Sylvia Kaiser
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Badestr. 13, 48149 Münster, Germany; Münster Graduate School of Evolution, University of Münster, Hüfferstr. 1a, 48149 Münster, Germany
| | - Norbert Sachser
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Badestr. 13, 48149 Münster, Germany; Münster Graduate School of Evolution, University of Münster, Hüfferstr. 1a, 48149 Münster, Germany
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18
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Stieger B, Melotti L, Quante SM, Kaiser S, Sachser N, Richter SH. A step in the right direction: the effect of context, strain and sex on paw preference in mice. Anim Behav 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2021.01.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
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19
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Desjardins E, Kurtz J, Kranke N, Lindeza A, Richter SH. Beyond Standardization: Improving External Validity and Reproducibility in Experimental Evolution. Bioscience 2021. [DOI: 10.1093/biosci/biab008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Discussions of reproducibility are casting doubts on the credibility of experimental outcomes in the life sciences. Although experimental evolution is not typically included in these discussions, this field is also subject to low reproducibility, partly because of the inherent contingencies affecting the evolutionary process. A received view in experimental studies more generally is that standardization (i.e., rigorous homogenization of experimental conditions) is a solution to some issues of significance and internal validity. However, this solution hides several difficulties, including a reduction of external validity and reproducibility. After explaining the meaning of these two notions in the context of experimental evolution, we import from the fields of animal research and ecology and suggests that systematic heterogenization of experimental factors could prove a promising alternative. We also incorporate into our analysis some philosophical reflections on the nature and diversity of research objectives in experimental evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eric Desjardins
- Rotman Institute of Philosophy, Department of Philosophy, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
| | | | | | | | - S Helene Richter
- RG Behavioural Biology and Animal Welfare, Institute of Neuro and Behavioural Biology all at the WWU, Münster, Germany
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20
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Alexander R, Aragón OR, Bookwala J, Cherbuin N, Gatt JM, Kahrilas IJ, Kästner N, Lawrence A, Lowe L, Morrison RG, Mueller SC, Nusslock R, Papadelis C, Polnaszek KL, Helene Richter S, Silton RL, Styliadis C. The neuroscience of positive emotions and affect: Implications for cultivating happiness and wellbeing. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2021; 121:220-249. [PMID: 33307046 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.12.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2019] [Revised: 11/10/2020] [Accepted: 12/06/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
This review paper provides an integrative account regarding neurophysiological correlates of positive emotions and affect that cumulatively contribute to the scaffolding for happiness and wellbeing in humans and other animals. This paper reviews the associations among neurotransmitters, hormones, brain networks, and cognitive functions in the context of positive emotions and affect. Consideration of lifespan developmental perspectives are incorporated, and we also examine the impact of healthy social relationships and environmental contexts on the modulation of positive emotions and affect. The neurophysiological processes that implement positive emotions are dynamic and modifiable, and meditative practices as well as flow states that change patterns of brain function and ultimately support wellbeing are also discussed. This review is part of "The Human Affectome Project" (http://neuroqualia.org/background.php), and in order to advance a primary aim of the Human Affectome Project, we also reviewed relevant linguistic dimensions and terminology that characterizes positive emotions and wellbeing. These linguistic dimensions are discussed within the context of the neuroscience literature with the overarching goal of generating novel recommendations for advancing neuroscience research on positive emotions and wellbeing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca Alexander
- Neuroscience Research Australia, Randwick, Sydney, NSW, 2031, Australia; Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia
| | - Oriana R Aragón
- Yale University, 2 Hillhouse Ave, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA; Clemson University, 252 Sirrine Hall, Clemson, SC, 29634, USA
| | - Jamila Bookwala
- Department of Psychology and Program in Aging Studies, Lafayette College, 730 High Road, Easton, PA, USA
| | - Nicolas Cherbuin
- Centre for Research on Ageing, Health, and Wellbeing, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia
| | - Justine M Gatt
- Neuroscience Research Australia, Randwick, Sydney, NSW, 2031, Australia; School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Randwick, Sydney, NSW, 2031, Australia
| | - Ian J Kahrilas
- Department of Psychology, Loyola University Chicago, 1032 W. Sheridan Road, Chicago, IL, 60660, USA
| | - Niklas Kästner
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Badestraße 13, 48149, Münster, Germany
| | - Alistair Lawrence
- Scotland's Rural College, King's Buildings, Edinburgh, EH9 3JG, United Kingdom; The Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush, EH25 9RG, United Kingdom
| | - Leroy Lowe
- Neuroqualia (NGO), Truro, NS, B2N 1X5, Canada
| | - Robert G Morrison
- Department of Psychology, Loyola University Chicago, 1032 W. Sheridan Road, Chicago, IL, 60660, USA
| | - Sven C Mueller
- Department of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium; Department of Personality, Psychological Assessment and Treatment, University of Deusto, Bilbao, Spain
| | - Robin Nusslock
- Department of Psychology and Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, 2029 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA
| | - Christos Papadelis
- Jane and John Justin Neurosciences Center, Cook Children's Health Care System, 1500 Cooper St, Fort Worth, TX, 76104, USA; Laboratory of Children's Brain Dynamics, Division of Newborn Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Kelly L Polnaszek
- Department of Psychology, Loyola University Chicago, 1032 W. Sheridan Road, Chicago, IL, 60660, USA
| | - S Helene Richter
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Badestraße 13, 48149, Münster, Germany
| | - Rebecca L Silton
- Department of Psychology, Loyola University Chicago, 1032 W. Sheridan Road, Chicago, IL, 60660, USA; Institute for Innovations in Developmental Sciences, Northwestern University, 633 N. Saint Clair, Chicago, IL, 60611, USA.
| | - Charis Styliadis
- Neuroscience of Cognition and Affection group, Lab of Medical Physics, School of Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, 54124, Greece
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21
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Krakenberg V, Wewer M, Palme R, Kaiser S, Sachser N, Richter SH. Regular touchscreen training affects faecal corticosterone metabolites and anxiety-like behaviour in mice. Behav Brain Res 2020; 401:113080. [PMID: 33358914 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2020.113080] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2020] [Revised: 11/30/2020] [Accepted: 12/14/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Automated touchscreen techniques find increasing application for the assessment of cognitive function in rodents. However, hardly anything is known about the potential impact of touchscreen-based training and testing procedures on the animals under investigation. Addressing this question appears particularly important in light of the long and intensive training phases required for most of the operant tasks. Against this background, we here investigated the influence of regular touchscreen training on hormones and behaviour of mice. Faecal corticosterone metabolites (FCMs), reflecting corticosterone levels around the time of treatment, were significantly increased in touchscreen-trained mice, even one week after the training phase was already terminated. Such an effect was not detected on baseline FCMs. Thus, regular touchscreen training can be assumed to cause long-term effects on hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis activity. Furthermore, anxiety-like behaviour was increased in touchscreen-trained mice two weeks after the end of the training phase. Traditionally, this would be interpreted as a negative influence of the training procedure on the animals' affective state. Yet, we also provide two alternative explanations, taking the possibility into account that touchscreen training might have enriching properties.
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Affiliation(s)
- Viktoria Krakenberg
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Germany; Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, Germany.
| | - Maximilian Wewer
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Germany
| | - Rupert Palme
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria
| | - Sylvia Kaiser
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Germany; Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, Germany
| | - Norbert Sachser
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Germany; Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, Germany
| | - S Helene Richter
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Germany; Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, Germany
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22
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Bodden C, Wewer M, Kästner N, Palme R, Kaiser S, Sachser N, Richter SH. Not all mice are alike: Mixed-strain housing alters social behaviour. Physiol Behav 2020; 228:113220. [PMID: 33122091 DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2020.113220] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2020] [Revised: 10/22/2020] [Accepted: 10/23/2020] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
Abstract
The use of millions of mice in scientific studies worldwide emphasises the continuing need for a reduction of sample sizes, however, not at the expense of scientific validity. Split-plot designs have been suggested to enhance statistical power while allowing a reduction of animal numbers in comparison to traditional experimental designs. Recently, a promising approach of a split-plot design has been implemented and proven useful using mixed-strain housing of at least three different mouse strains. However, the impact of co-housing different strains of mice in one cage on animal welfare has still to be defined. This study aimed at comparing the effects of mixed-strain and same-strain housing of female C57BL/6J and DBA/2N mice on welfare and behaviour in two experimental phases. In a first phase, mice were housed in either mixed- or same-strain pairs. Home cage behaviour, activity rhythm, body weight, and faecal corticosterone metabolites were assessed. Furthermore, tests for anxiety-like and exploratory behaviour as well as spatial learning were performed. In a second phase, sociability was investigated in newly formed mixed-strain quartets. Mixed-strain housing did not induce alterations in anxiety, locomotion, learning, stereotypic behaviour, and stress hormone levels. However, changes in social behaviours and activity rhythm were observed. Increased agonistic and decreased socio-positive behaviours might point towards mild impacts on welfare in C57BL/6J mice under co-housing conditions. Altogether, scientific research may greatly benefit from co-housing mice of different strains within the same cages (e.g. for the realisation of a split-plot design), provided that strains are carefully selected for compatibility.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carina Bodden
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany; The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Maximilian Wewer
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Niklas Kästner
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Rupert Palme
- Unit of Physiology, Pathophysiology and Experimental Endocrinology, Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria
| | - Sylvia Kaiser
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany; Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Norbert Sachser
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany; Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - S Helene Richter
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany; Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, Münster, Germany.
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von Kortzfleisch VT, Karp NA, Palme R, Kaiser S, Sachser N, Richter SH. Improving reproducibility in animal research by splitting the study population into several 'mini-experiments'. Sci Rep 2020; 10:16579. [PMID: 33024165 PMCID: PMC7538440 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-73503-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2020] [Accepted: 09/11/2020] [Indexed: 01/16/2023] Open
Abstract
In light of the hotly discussed 'reproducibility crisis', a rethinking of current methodologies appears essential. Implementing multi-laboratory designs has been shown to enhance the external validity and hence the reproducibility of findings from animal research. We here aimed at proposing a new experimental strategy that transfers this logic into a single-laboratory setting. We systematically introduced heterogeneity into our study population by splitting an experiment into several 'mini-experiments' spread over different time points a few weeks apart. We hypothesised to observe improved reproducibility in such a 'mini-experiment' design in comparison to a conventionally standardised design, according to which all animals are tested at one specific point in time. By comparing both designs across independent replicates, we could indeed show that the use of such a 'mini-experiment' design improved the reproducibility and accurate detection of exemplary treatment effects (behavioural and physiological differences between four mouse strains) in about half of all investigated strain comparisons. Thus, we successfully implemented and empirically validated an easy-to-handle strategy to tackle poor reproducibility in single-laboratory studies. Since other experiments within different life science disciplines share the main characteristics with the investigation reported here, these studies are likely to also benefit from this approach.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vanessa Tabea von Kortzfleisch
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Badestraße 13, Münster, Germany.
- Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, Münster, Germany.
| | - Natasha A Karp
- Data Sciences and Quantitative Biology, Discovery Sciences, R&D, AstraZeneca, Cambridge, UK
| | - Rupert Palme
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria
| | - Sylvia Kaiser
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Badestraße 13, Münster, Germany
- Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Norbert Sachser
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Badestraße 13, Münster, Germany
- Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - S Helene Richter
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Badestraße 13, Münster, Germany.
- Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, Münster, Germany.
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24
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Feige-Diller J, Palme R, Kaiser S, Sachser N, Richter SH. The impact of varying food availability on health and welfare in mice: Testing the Match-Mismatch hypothesis. Physiol Behav 2020; 228:113193. [PMID: 33011232 DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2020.113193] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2020] [Revised: 09/27/2020] [Accepted: 09/29/2020] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
During early phases of life, an organism's phenotype can be shaped by the environmental conditions which it experiences. If the conditions change subsequently, the mismatch between the environment in early and later life could have negative effects on the individual's health and welfare. The aim of this study was to systematically test the predictions of this Match-Mismatch hypothesis in laboratory mice. Therefore, female C57BL/6 J mice were exposed to matching or mismatching combinations of low and high food availability in adolescence and early adulthood. A comprehensive analysis of various physiological and behavioral parameters was conducted. No indication of a mismatch effect was found, which might be attributed to the specific ecology of mice. Alternatively, food availability might cause a shaping of the phenotype only during the prenatal or early postnatal development. However, various effects of low vs high food availability were found regarding the individuals' physiology and, to a small extent, their behavior. Low food availability caused higher concentrations of fecal corticosterone metabolites, as well as higher liver and lower spleen weights, suggesting an adaptation of the metabolism to this situation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Janina Feige-Diller
- Department of Behavioral Biology, University of Münster, Badestr. 13, 48149 Münster, Germany; DFG RTG EvoPAD, University of Münster, Hüfferstr. 1a, 48149 Münster, Germany.
| | - Rupert Palme
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Veterinary Medicine, Veterinärplatz 1, A-1210 Vienna, Austria.
| | - Sylvia Kaiser
- Department of Behavioral Biology, University of Münster, Badestr. 13, 48149 Münster, Germany.
| | - Norbert Sachser
- Department of Behavioral Biology, University of Münster, Badestr. 13, 48149 Münster, Germany; DFG RTG EvoPAD, University of Münster, Hüfferstr. 1a, 48149 Münster, Germany.
| | - S Helene Richter
- Department of Behavioral Biology, University of Münster, Badestr. 13, 48149 Münster, Germany; DFG RTG EvoPAD, University of Münster, Hüfferstr. 1a, 48149 Münster, Germany.
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25
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Mutwill AM, Zimmermann TD, Hennicke A, Richter SH, Kaiser S, Sachser N. Adaptive reshaping of the hormonal phenotype after social niche transition in adulthood. Proc Biol Sci 2020; 287:20200667. [PMID: 32517608 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.0667] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Phenotypic plasticity allows individuals to adjust traits to the environment. Whether long-term adjustments of the phenotype occur during later life stages is largely unknown. To address this question, we examined whether hormonal phenotypes that are shaped by the environment during adolescence can still be reshaped in full adulthood. For this, guinea pig males were either housed in mixed-sex colonies or in heterosexual pairs. In adulthood, males were individually transferred to pair housing with a female. This way, a social niche transition was induced in colony-housed males, but not in pair-housed males. Before transfer, corresponding to findings in adolescence, adult colony-housed males showed significantly higher baseline testosterone levels and lower cortisol responsiveness than pair-housed males. One month after transfer, the hormonal phenotype of colony-housed males was changed towards that of pair-housed males: animals showed comparable baseline testosterone levels and cortisol responsiveness was significantly increased in colony-housed males. This endocrine readjustment builds the basis for an adaptive behavioural tactic in the new social situation. Thus, an adaptive change of the behavioural phenotype may still occur in adulthood via modification of underlying mechanisms. This suggests a greater role for developmental plasticity in later life stages than is commonly presumed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandra M Mutwill
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, 48149 Münster, Germany.,Münster Graduate School of Evolution, University of Münster, 48149 Münster, Germany
| | - Tobias D Zimmermann
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, 48149 Münster, Germany
| | - Antonia Hennicke
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, 48149 Münster, Germany
| | - S Helene Richter
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, 48149 Münster, Germany.,Münster Graduate School of Evolution, University of Münster, 48149 Münster, Germany
| | - Sylvia Kaiser
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, 48149 Münster, Germany.,Münster Graduate School of Evolution, University of Münster, 48149 Münster, Germany
| | - Norbert Sachser
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, 48149 Münster, Germany.,Münster Graduate School of Evolution, University of Münster, 48149 Münster, Germany
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26
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Feige-Diller J, Krakenberg V, Bierbaum L, Seifert L, Palme R, Kaiser S, Sachser N, Richter SH. The Effects of Different Feeding Routines on Welfare in Laboratory Mice. Front Vet Sci 2020; 6:479. [PMID: 31993444 PMCID: PMC6971109 DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2019.00479] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2019] [Accepted: 12/06/2019] [Indexed: 01/26/2023] Open
Abstract
The accepted norm in most laboratories around the globe is feeding laboratory mice an ad libitum diet, although several health impairments are well-established. In contrast, reducing the animals' body weight by feeding them less food once per day (referred to as 24 h schedule) has been shown to enhance life span and reduce disease susceptibility. Against this background, this study aimed at systematically investigating the effects of different feeding routines. Therefore, three feeding routines were compared to the standard ad libitum feeding and effects on body weight development and welfare were investigated in male C57BL/6J mice. In particular, a 24 h schedule group, an AUTO group, characterized by an automated supply of small pieces of food all over the day, and a 4 h removal group, characterized by daily removal of food for 4 h, were studied. While the removal of food for 4 h per day did not lead to a reduction of body weight, and hence is unlikely to prevent negative effects of overfeeding, both the 24 h schedule group and the AUTO group led to the aspired body weight reduction. In the AUTO group, however, higher levels of corticosterone metabolites and stereotypies were observed, implying a rather negative impact on welfare. By contrast, no distinct negative effects of a 24 h schedule were found. Studies like this underline the general need for evidence-based severity assessments of any procedure involving living animals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Janina Feige-Diller
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
- DFG Research Training Group EvoPAD, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | | | - Louisa Bierbaum
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Leonie Seifert
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Rupert Palme
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria
| | - Sylvia Kaiser
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Norbert Sachser
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
- DFG Research Training Group EvoPAD, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - S. Helene Richter
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
- DFG Research Training Group EvoPAD, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
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27
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Mutwill AM, Zimmermann TD, Reuland C, Fuchs S, Kunert J, Richter SH, Kaiser S, Sachser N. High Reproductive Success Despite Queuing - Socio-Sexual Development of Males in a Complex Social Environment. Front Psychol 2019; 10:2810. [PMID: 31920852 PMCID: PMC6928119 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02810] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2019] [Accepted: 11/28/2019] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The start of actual breeding in male social mammals can occur long after individuals attain sexual maturity. Mainly prevented from reproduction by older and dominant males, young males often queue until strong enough to compete for favorable social positions and, in this way, to obtain access to females. However, to what extent maturing males also apply tactics to reproduce before this time is largely unknown. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to elucidate male socio-sexual development from onset of sexual maturity through first mating success until the achievement of a stable social position in a complex social environment. For this purpose, guinea pigs were used as a model system and reproductive success of males living in large mixed-sex colonies was assessed during their first year of life. As a reference, males in a mixed-sex pair situation were examined. Pair-housed males reproduced for the first time around the onset of sexual maturity whereas colony-housed males did so much later in life and with a considerably higher variance. In colonies, reproductive success was significantly affected by dominance status. Dominance itself was age-dependent, with older males having significantly higher dominance ranks than younger males. Surprisingly, both younger and older colony-housed males attained substantial reproductive success of comparable amounts. Thus, younger males reproduced irrespective of queuing and already before reaching a high social status. This mating success of maturing males was most likely achieved via several reproductive tactics which were flexibly applied with the onset of sexual maturity. The period of socio-sexual development before a stable social position is established may, therefore, be a time during which male mammals use flexible behavioral tactics to achieve reproductive success more frequently than commonly is presumed. In addition, the findings strongly indicate that high behavioral plasticity exists well beyond sexual maturity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandra M Mutwill
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany.,Münster Graduate School of Evolution, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | | | - Charel Reuland
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Sebastian Fuchs
- Faculty of Statistics, Technical University of Dortmund, Dortmund, Germany
| | - Joachim Kunert
- Faculty of Statistics, Technical University of Dortmund, Dortmund, Germany
| | - S Helene Richter
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany.,Münster Graduate School of Evolution, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Sylvia Kaiser
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany.,Münster Graduate School of Evolution, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Norbert Sachser
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany.,Münster Graduate School of Evolution, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
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28
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Krakenberg V, von Kortzfleisch VT, Kaiser S, Sachser N, Richter SH. Differential Effects of Serotonin Transporter Genotype on Anxiety-Like Behavior and Cognitive Judgment Bias in Mice. Front Behav Neurosci 2019; 13:263. [PMID: 31849623 PMCID: PMC6902087 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2019.00263] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2019] [Accepted: 11/19/2019] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
In humans, the short allele of a common polymorphism in the serotonin transporter (5-HTT) gene is associated with a higher risk to develop depression and anxiety disorders. Furthermore, individuals carrying this allele are characterized by negative judgment biases, as they tend to interpret ambiguous information in a more pessimistic way. 5-HTT knockout mice, lacking the 5-HTT gene either homo- or heterozygously, provide a widely used model organism for the study of symptoms related to human anxiety disorders. In the present study, we aimed to prove the anxiety-like phenotype of the 5-HTT mouse model, and to investigate whether 5-HTT genotype also causes differences in judgment bias. While our results confirm that homozygous 5-HTT knockout mice display highest levels of anxiety-like behavior, it was decreased in heterozygous mice. Against our expectations, we did not detect differences in the animals’ judgment bias. These results indicate that at least in mice the association between 5-HTT genotype and judgment bias is not straightforward and that other factors, including multiple genes as well as environmental influences, are implicated in the modulation of judgment biases. More research is needed to gain further insights into their function as potential endophenotypes for psychopathology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Viktoria Krakenberg
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany.,Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Vanessa Tabea von Kortzfleisch
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany.,Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Sylvia Kaiser
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany.,Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Norbert Sachser
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany.,Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - S Helene Richter
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany.,Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
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29
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Haaker J, Maren S, Andreatta M, Merz CJ, Richter J, Richter SH, Meir Drexler S, Lange MD, Jüngling K, Nees F, Seidenbecher T, Fullana MA, Wotjak CT, Lonsdorf TB. Making translation work: Harmonizing cross-species methodology in the behavioural neuroscience of Pavlovian fear conditioning. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2019; 107:329-345. [PMID: 31521698 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2019.09.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2019] [Revised: 07/08/2019] [Accepted: 09/11/2019] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Translational neuroscience bridges insights from specific mechanisms in rodents to complex functions in humans and is key to advance our general understanding of central nervous function. A prime example of translational research is the study of cross-species mechanisms that underlie responding to learned threats, by employing Pavlovian fear conditioning protocols in rodents and humans. Hitherto, evidence for (and critique of) these cross-species comparisons in fear conditioning research was based on theoretical viewpoints. Here, we provide a perspective to substantiate these theoretical concepts with empirical considerations of cross-species methodology. This meta-research perspective is expected to foster cross-species comparability and reproducibility to ultimately facilitate successful transfer of results from basic science into clinical applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jan Haaker
- Department of Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
| | - Stephen Maren
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences and Institute for Neuroscience, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843, USA
| | - Marta Andreatta
- Department of Psychology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany; Department of Psychology, Education & Child Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Netherlands
| | - Christian J Merz
- Ruhr University Bochum, Faculty of Psychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Cognitive Psychology, Germany
| | - Jan Richter
- Department of Biological and Clinical Psychology/Psychotherapy, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - S Helene Richter
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Shira Meir Drexler
- Ruhr University Bochum, Faculty of Psychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Cognitive Psychology, Germany
| | - Maren D Lange
- Institute of Physiology I, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Kay Jüngling
- Institute of Physiology I, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Frauke Nees
- Department of Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany
| | | | - Miquel A Fullana
- Institute of Neurosciences, Hospital Clinic, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Carsten T Wotjak
- Neuronal Plasticity Research Group, Department of Stress Neurobiology and Neurogenetics, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, 80804, Munich, Germany
| | - Tina B Lonsdorf
- Department of Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
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30
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Bodden C, von Kortzfleisch VT, Karwinkel F, Kaiser S, Sachser N, Richter SH. Heterogenising study samples across testing time improves reproducibility of behavioural data. Sci Rep 2019; 9:8247. [PMID: 31160667 PMCID: PMC6547843 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-44705-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2019] [Accepted: 05/20/2019] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
The ongoing debate on the reproducibility crisis in the life sciences highlights the need for a rethinking of current methodologies. Since the trend towards ever more standardised experiments is at risk of causing highly idiosyncratic results, an alternative approach has been suggested to improve the robustness of findings, particularly from animal experiments. This concept, referred to as "systematic heterogenisation", postulates increased external validity and hence, improved reproducibility by introducing variation systematically into a single experiment. However, the implementation of this concept in practice requires the identification of suitable heterogenisation factors. Here we show that the time of day at which experiments are conducted has a significant impact on the reproducibility of behavioural differences between two mouse strains, C57BL/6J and DBA/2N. Specifically, we found remarkably varying strain effects on anxiety, exploration, and learning, depending on the testing time, i.e. morning, noon or afternoon. In a follow-up simulation approach, we demonstrate that the systematic inclusion of two different testing times significantly improved reproducibility between replicate experiments. Our results emphasise the potential of time as an effective and easy-to-handle heterogenisation factor for single-laboratory studies. Its systematic variation likely improves reproducibility of research findings and hence contributes to a fundamental issue of experimental design and conduct in laboratory animal science.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carina Bodden
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany.,Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Melbourne Brain Centre, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia
| | - Vanessa Tabea von Kortzfleisch
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany.,Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Fabian Karwinkel
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Sylvia Kaiser
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany.,Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Norbert Sachser
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany.,Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - S Helene Richter
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany. .,Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, Münster, Germany.
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31
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Melotti L, Kästner N, Eick AK, Schnelle AL, Palme R, Sachser N, Kaiser S, Richter SH. Can live with ‘em, can live without ‘em: Pair housed male C57BL/6J mice show low aggression and increasing sociopositive interactions with age, but can adapt to single housing if separated. Appl Anim Behav Sci 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.applanim.2019.03.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
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32
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Krakenberg V, Woigk I, Garcia Rodriguez L, Kästner N, Kaiser S, Sachser N, Richter SH. Technology or ecology? New tools to assess cognitive judgement bias in mice. Behav Brain Res 2019; 362:279-287. [PMID: 30654122 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2019.01.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2018] [Revised: 12/10/2018] [Accepted: 01/12/2019] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
Cognitive judgement bias tests have become important new tools for the assessment of animal emotions. They allow for the inference of an animal's emotional state based on ambiguous cue interpretations. As mice are the predominantly used animal model for cognitive and behavioural neuroscience, research in this field would considerably benefit from the development of suitable judgement bias tests for this species. Against this background, we aimed to implement two different active choice cognitive judgement bias paradigms for mice in a methodological study. For this purpose, two experiments were conducted: in experiment I, an automated, vision-based touchscreen technique was applied, allowing for the direct translation of tasks from rodents to humans and vice versa. Experiment II comprised a task relying on more ecologically relevant cues in form of tunnels of different lengths. While the touchscreen task was characterized by automation-related advantages such as the possibility to present many trials per session and a high convenience for the experimenter, the tunnel task was learned faster by the mice. In both tests, however, the response to the trained and ambiguous conditions resulted in a graded curve, the basic requirement for proving task validity. Thus, both the translational touchscreen task as well as the ecologically more relevant tunnel task could successfully be implemented and provide new tools for the future assessment of cognitive judgement biases in mice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Viktoria Krakenberg
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Germany; Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, Germany.
| | - Irene Woigk
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Germany.
| | | | - Niklas Kästner
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Germany.
| | - Sylvia Kaiser
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Germany; Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, Germany.
| | - Norbert Sachser
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Germany; Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, Germany.
| | - S Helene Richter
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Germany; Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, Germany.
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33
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Kästner N, Richter SH, Bodden C, Palme R, Kaiser S, Sachser N. Varying Social Experiences in Adulthood Do Not Differentially Affect Anxiety-Like Behavior But Stress Hormone Levels. Front Behav Neurosci 2018; 12:72. [PMID: 29740291 PMCID: PMC5928152 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2018.00072] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2017] [Accepted: 04/03/2018] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Social experiences can have profound effects on an individual’s level of anxiety. While various studies have addressed consequences of experiences of a specific type, e.g., social defeat, a recent study in mice investigated the impact of combinations of adverse and beneficial social experiences. Quite surprisingly, mice exposed to benefits during early life phases followed by escapable adversity in adulthood displayed lowest levels of anxiety, even compared to individuals having experienced throughout beneficial conditions. The present study aimed to elucidate whether this phenomenon is restricted to these specific life phases or whether it also exists when all these experiences are made in full adulthood. For this purpose, we compared anxiety-like behavior and stress response of adult male mice exposed to escapable social defeat following beneficial social experiences to that of mice exposed to either throughout adverse or throughout beneficial conditions. More precisely, we performed three established behavioral paradigms measuring anxiety-like behavior and assessed corticosterone metabolites non-invasively via feces sampling. Interestingly, we found no effects of social experience on anxiety-like behavior. In contrast to that, the animals’ stress hormone levels were profoundly affected by current social conditions: escapable social defeat (adverse condition) led to an increase in corticosterone metabolite concentrations, whereas living with a female (beneficial condition) led to a decrease. Thus, on the one hand this study suggests the importance of the timing of social experience for affecting an individual’s level of anxiety. On the other hand, it demonstrates that anxiety and stress hormone levels can be affected separately by social experience during adulthood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Niklas Kästner
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany.,Münster Graduate School of Evolution, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - S Helene Richter
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany.,Münster Graduate School of Evolution, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Carina Bodden
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Rupert Palme
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria
| | - Sylvia Kaiser
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany.,Münster Graduate School of Evolution, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Norbert Sachser
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany.,Münster Graduate School of Evolution, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
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Kafkafi N, Agassi J, Chesler EJ, Crabbe JC, Crusio WE, Eilam D, Gerlai R, Golani I, Gomez-Marin A, Heller R, Iraqi F, Jaljuli I, Karp NA, Morgan H, Nicholson G, Pfaff DW, Richter SH, Stark PB, Stiedl O, Stodden V, Tarantino LM, Tucci V, Valdar W, Williams RW, Würbel H, Benjamini Y. Reproducibility and replicability of rodent phenotyping in preclinical studies. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2018; 87:218-232. [PMID: 29357292 PMCID: PMC6071910 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2018.01.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 109] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2016] [Revised: 12/13/2017] [Accepted: 01/11/2018] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
The scientific community is increasingly concerned with the proportion of
published “discoveries” that are not replicated in subsequent
studies. The field of rodent behavioral phenotyping was one of the first to
raise this concern, and to relate it to other methodological issues: the complex
interaction between genotype and environment; the definitions of behavioral
constructs; and the use of laboratory mice and rats as model species for
investigating human health and disease mechanisms. In January 2015, researchers
from various disciplines gathered at Tel Aviv University to discuss these
issues. The general consensus was that the issue is prevalent and of concern,
and should be addressed at the statistical, methodological and policy levels,
but is not so severe as to call into question the validity and the usefulness of
model organisms as a whole. Well-organized community efforts, coupled with
improved data and metadata sharing, have a key role in identifying specific
problems and promoting effective solutions. Replicability is closely related to
validity, may affect generalizability and translation of findings, and has
important ethical implications.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - John C Crabbe
- Oregon Health & Science University, and VA Portland Health Care System, United States
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Natasha A Karp
- Discovery Sciences, IMED Biotech Unit, AstraZeneca, Cambridge, UK
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - William Valdar
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, United States
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Bodden C, Siestrup S, Palme R, Kaiser S, Sachser N, Richter SH. Evidence-based severity assessment: Impact of repeated versus single open-field testing on welfare in C57BL/6J mice. Behav Brain Res 2018; 336:261-268. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2017.08.029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2017] [Revised: 08/11/2017] [Accepted: 08/17/2017] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
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Kästner N, Richter SH, Gamer M, Kaiser S, Sachser N. What a difference a day makes-female behaviour is less predictable near ovulation. R Soc Open Sci 2017; 4:160998. [PMID: 28484619 PMCID: PMC5414256 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.160998] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2016] [Accepted: 03/13/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
'Animal personalities' have been shown to exist in many species. Yet, fluctuations in the stability of these inter-individual behavioural differences are not well understood. Against this background, we wondered whether behavioural consistency over time is affected by the reproductive cycle. Female mice were tested twice at an interval of eight weeks in four paradigms assessing social interest as well as anxiety-like behaviour and exploratory locomotion. Twenty-two individuals were tested repeatedly near ovulation, whereas another twenty-two were tested repeatedly in the non-receptive phase. While we found no major behavioural effects at the group level, the reproductive state indeed had profound effects on behavioural stability over time: social interest as well as anxiety-like behaviour proved to be significantly less predictable near ovulation. It is generally believed that phenotypic plasticity is limited due to the costs it brings about. In this context, our data indicate that females accept higher costs in phases directly related to fitness maximization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Niklas Kästner
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
- Münster Graduate School of Evolution, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - S. Helene Richter
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Matthias Gamer
- Experimental Clinical Psychology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Sylvia Kaiser
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
- Münster Graduate School of Evolution, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Norbert Sachser
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
- Münster Graduate School of Evolution, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
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Richter SH, Kästner N, Loddenkemper DH, Kaiser S, Sachser N. A Time to Wean? Impact of Weaning Age on Anxiety-Like Behaviour and Stability of Behavioural Traits in Full Adulthood. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0167652. [PMID: 27930688 PMCID: PMC5145172 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0167652] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2016] [Accepted: 11/17/2016] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
In mammals, weaning constitutes an important phase in the progression to adulthood. It comprises the termination of suckling and is characterized by several changes in the behaviour of both mother and offspring. Furthermore, numerous studies in rodents have shown that the time point of weaning shapes the behavioural profile of the young. Most of these studies, however, have focused on ‘early weaning’, while relatively little work has been done to study ‘late weaning’ effects. The aim of the present study was therefore to explore behavioural effects of ‘late weaning’, and furthermore to gain insights into modulating effects of weaning age on the consistency of behavioural expressions over time. In total, 25 male and 20 female C57BL/6J mice, weaned after three (W3) or four (W4) weeks of age, were subjected to a series of behavioural paradigms widely used to assess anxiety-like behaviour, exploratory locomotion, and nest building performance. Behavioural testing took place with the mice reaching an age of 20 weeks and was repeated eight weeks later to investigate the stability of behavioural expressions over time. At the group level, W4 mice behaved less anxious and more explorative than W3 animals in the Open Field and Novel Cage, while anxiety-like behaviour on the Elevated Plus Maze was modulated by a weaning-age-by-sex interaction. Furthermore, weaning age shaped the degree of behavioural stability over time in a sex-specific way. While W3 females and W4 males displayed a remarkable degree of behavioural stability over time, no such patterns were observed in W3 males and W4 females. Adding to the existing literature, we could thus confirm that effects of weaning age do indeed exist when prolonging this phase, and were furthermore able to provide first evidence for the impact of weaning age and sex on the consistency of behavioural expressions over time.
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Affiliation(s)
- S. Helene Richter
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
- * E-mail:
| | - Niklas Kästner
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | | | - Sylvia Kaiser
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Norbert Sachser
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
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Remmes J, Bodden C, Richter SH, Lesting J, Sachser N, Pape HC, Seidenbecher T. Impact of Life History on Fear Memory and Extinction. Front Behav Neurosci 2016; 10:185. [PMID: 27757077 PMCID: PMC5047906 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2016.00185] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2016] [Accepted: 09/20/2016] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Behavioral profiles are strongly shaped by an individual's whole life experience. The accumulation of negative experiences over lifetime is thought to promote anxiety-like behavior in adulthood (“allostatic load hypothesis”). In contrast, the “mismatch hypothesis” of psychiatric disease suggests that high levels of anxiety-like behavior are the result of a discrepancy between early and late environment. The aim of the present study was to investigate how different life histories shape the expression of anxiety-like behavior and modulate fear memory. In addition, we aimed to clarify which of the two hypotheses can better explain the modulation of anxiety and fear. For this purpose, male mice grew up under either adverse or beneficial conditions during early phase of life. In adulthood they were further subdivided in groups that either matched or mismatched the condition experienced before, resulting in four different life histories. The main results were: (i) Early life benefit followed by late life adversity caused decreased levels of anxiety-like behavior. (ii) Accumulation of adversity throughout life history led to impaired fear extinction learning. Late life adversity as compared to late life benefit mainly affected extinction training, while early life adversity as compared to early life benefit interfered with extinction recall. Concerning anxiety-like behavior, the results do neither support the allostatic load nor the mismatch hypothesis, but rather indicate an anxiolytic effect of a mismatched early beneficial and later adverse life history. In contrast, fear memory was strongly affected by the accumulation of adverse experiences over the lifetime, therefore supporting allostatic load hypothesis. In summary, this study highlights that anxiety-like behavior and fear memory are differently affected by specific combinations of adverse or beneficial events experienced throughout life.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jasmin Remmes
- Institute of Physiology I, Westfälische Wilhelms-UniversityMünster, Germany; Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, Westfälische Wilhelms-UniversityMünster, Germany
| | - Carina Bodden
- Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, Westfälische Wilhelms-UniversityMünster, Germany; Department of Behavioural Biology, Westfälische Wilhelms-UniversityMünster, Germany
| | - S Helene Richter
- Department of Behavioural Biology, Westfälische Wilhelms-University Münster, Germany
| | - Jörg Lesting
- Institute of Physiology I, Westfälische Wilhelms-UniversityMünster, Germany; Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, Westfälische Wilhelms-UniversityMünster, Germany
| | - Norbert Sachser
- Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, Westfälische Wilhelms-UniversityMünster, Germany; Department of Behavioural Biology, Westfälische Wilhelms-UniversityMünster, Germany
| | - Hans-Christian Pape
- Institute of Physiology I, Westfälische Wilhelms-UniversityMünster, Germany; Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, Westfälische Wilhelms-UniversityMünster, Germany
| | - Thomas Seidenbecher
- Institute of Physiology I, Westfälische Wilhelms-UniversityMünster, Germany; Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, Westfälische Wilhelms-UniversityMünster, Germany
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Meyer N, Richter SH, Schreiber RS, Kloke V, Kaiser S, Lesch KP, Sachser N. The Unexpected Effects of Beneficial and Adverse Social Experiences during Adolescence on Anxiety and Aggression and Their Modulation by Genotype. Front Behav Neurosci 2016; 10:97. [PMID: 27303275 PMCID: PMC4880570 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2016.00097] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2016] [Accepted: 05/06/2016] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Anxiety and aggression are part of the behavioral repertoire of humans and animals. However, in their exaggerated form both can become maladaptive and result in psychiatric disorders. On the one hand, genetic predisposition has been shown to play a crucial modulatory role in anxiety and aggression. On the other hand, social experiences have been implicated in the modulation of these traits. However, so far, mainly experiences in early life phases have been considered crucial for shaping anxiety-like and aggressive behavior, while the phase of adolescence has largely been neglected. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to elucidate how levels of anxiety-like and aggressive behavior are shaped by social experiences during adolescence and serotonin transporter (5-HTT) genotype. For this purpose, male mice of a 5-HTT knockout mouse model including all three genotypes (wildtype, heterozygous and homozygous 5-HTT knockout mice) were either exposed to an adverse social situation or a beneficial social environment during adolescence. This was accomplished in a custom-made cage system where mice experiencing the adverse environment were repeatedly introduced to the territory of a dominant opponent but had the possibility to escape to a refuge cage. Mice encountering beneficial social conditions had free access to a female mating partner. Afterwards, anxiety-like and aggressive behavior was assessed in a battery of tests. Surprisingly, unfavorable conditions during adolescence led to a decrease in anxiety-like behavior and an increase in exploratory locomotion. Additionally, aggressive behavior was augmented in animals that experienced social adversity. Concerning genotype, homozygous 5-HTT knockout mice were more anxious and less aggressive than heterozygous 5-HTT knockout and wildtype mice. In summary, adolescence is clearly an important phase in which anxiety-like and aggressive behavior can be shaped. Furthermore, it seems that having to cope with challenge during adolescence instead of experiencing throughout beneficial social conditions leads to reduced levels of anxiety-like behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Neele Meyer
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of MuensterMuenster, Germany; Muenster Graduate School of Evolution, University of MuensterMuenster, Germany
| | - S Helene Richter
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Muenster Muenster, Germany
| | | | - Vanessa Kloke
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Muenster Muenster, Germany
| | - Sylvia Kaiser
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of MuensterMuenster, Germany; Muenster Graduate School of Evolution, University of MuensterMuenster, Germany
| | - Klaus-Peter Lesch
- Laboratory of Translational Neuroscience, Division of Molecular Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatics, and Psychotherapy, University of Wuerzburg Wuerzburg, Germany
| | - Norbert Sachser
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of MuensterMuenster, Germany; Muenster Graduate School of Evolution, University of MuensterMuenster, Germany
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Richter SH, Kästner N, Kriwet M, Kaiser S, Sachser N. Play matters: the surprising relationship between juvenile playfulness and anxiety in later life. Anim Behav 2016. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2016.02.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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Abstract
In this article, we refer to an original opinion paper written by Prof. Frank Beach in 1950 ("The Snark was a Boojum"). In his manuscript, Beach explicitly criticised the field of comparative psychology because of the disparity between the original understanding of comparativeness and its practical overly specialised implementation. Specialisation encompassed both experimental species (rats accounted for 70% of all subjects) and test paradigms (dominated by conditioning/learning experiments). Herein, we attempt to evaluate the extent to which these considerations apply to current behavioural neuroscience. Such evaluation is particularly interesting in the context of "translational research" that has recently gained growing attention. As a community, we believe that preclinical findings are intended to inform clinical practice at the level of therapies and knowledge advancements. Yet, limited reproducibility of experimental results and failures to translate preclinical research into clinical trial sindicate that these expectations are not entirely fulfilled. Theoretical considerations suggest that, before concluding that a given phenomenon is of relevance to our species, it should be observed in more than a single experimental model (be it an animal strain or species) and tested in more than a single standardized test battery. Yet, current approaches appear limited in terms of variability and overspecialised in terms of operative procedures. Specifically, as in 1950, rodents (mice instead of rats) still constitute the vast majority of animal species investigated. Additionally, the scientific community strives to homogenise experimental test strategies, thereby not only limiting the generalizability of the findings, but also working against the design of innovative approaches. Finally, we discuss the importance of evolutionary-adaptive considerations within the field of laboratory research. Specifically, resting upon empirical evidence indicating that developing individuals adjust their long-term phenotype according to early environmental demands, we propose that current rearing and housing standards do not adequately prepare experimental subjects to their actual adult environments. Specifically, while the adult life of a laboratory animal is characterized by frequent stimulations and challenges, the neonatal life is dominated by quietness and stability. We suggest that such form of mismatch may remarkably influence the reproducibility and reliability of experimental findings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simone Macrì
- Section of Behavioural Neuroscience, Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161, Roma, Italy
| | - S Helene Richter
- Department of Behavioural Biology, Institute of Neuro and Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Badestraße 13, 48149 Münster, Germany
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Bodden C, Richter SH, Schreiber RS, Kloke V, Gerß J, Palme R, Lesch KP, Lewejohann L, Kaiser S, Sachser N. Benefits of adversity?! How life history affects the behavioral profile of mice varying in serotonin transporter genotype. Front Behav Neurosci 2015; 9:47. [PMID: 25784864 PMCID: PMC4347490 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2015.00047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2014] [Accepted: 02/09/2015] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Behavioral profiles are influenced by both positive and negative experiences as well as the genetic disposition. Traditionally, accumulating adversity over lifetime is considered to predict increased anxiety-like behavior (“allostatic load”). The alternative “mismatch hypothesis” suggests increased levels of anxiety if the early environment differs from the later-life environment. Thus, there is a need for a whole-life history approach to gain a deeper understanding of how behavioral profiles are shaped. The aim of this study was to elucidate the effects of life history on the behavioral profile of mice varying in serotonin transporter (5-HTT) genotype, an established mouse model of increased anxiety-like behavior. For this purpose, mice grew up under either adverse or beneficial conditions during early phases of life. In adulthood, they were further subdivided so as to face a situation that either matched or mismatched the condition experienced so far, resulting in four different life histories. Subsequently, mice were tested for their anxiety-like and exploratory behavior. The main results were: (1) Life history profoundly modulated the behavioral profile. Surprisingly, mice that experienced early beneficial and later escapable adverse conditions showed less anxiety-like and more exploratory behavior compared to mice of other life histories. (2) Genotype significantly influenced the behavioral profile, with homozygous 5-HTT knockout mice displaying highest levels of anxiety-like and lowest levels of exploratory behavior. Our findings concerning life history indicate that the absence of adversity does not necessarily cause lower levels of anxiety than accumulating adversity. Rather, some adversity may be beneficial, particularly when following positive events. Altogether, we conclude that for an understanding of behavioral profiles, it is not sufficient to look at experiences during single phases of life, but the whole life history has to be considered.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carina Bodden
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Muenster Muenster, Germany ; Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Muenster Muenster, Germany
| | - S Helene Richter
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Muenster Muenster, Germany
| | - Rebecca S Schreiber
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Muenster Muenster, Germany ; Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Muenster Muenster, Germany
| | - Vanessa Kloke
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Muenster Muenster, Germany ; Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Muenster Muenster, Germany
| | - Joachim Gerß
- Institute of Biostatistics and Clinical Research, University of Muenster Muenster, Germany
| | - Rupert Palme
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Austria
| | - Klaus-Peter Lesch
- Division of Molecular Psychiatry, Laboratory of Translational Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatics, and Psychotherapy, University of Wuerzburg Wuerzburg, Germany
| | - Lars Lewejohann
- Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Muenster Muenster, Germany ; Department of Behavioral Biology, University of Osnabrueck Germany
| | - Sylvia Kaiser
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Muenster Muenster, Germany ; Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Muenster Muenster, Germany
| | - Norbert Sachser
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Muenster Muenster, Germany ; Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Muenster Muenster, Germany
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Kästner N, Richter SH, Lesch KP, Schreiber RS, Kaiser S, Sachser N. Benefits of a "vulnerability gene"? A study in serotonin transporter knockout mice. Behav Brain Res 2015; 283:116-20. [PMID: 25629942 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2015.01.031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2014] [Revised: 01/15/2015] [Accepted: 01/19/2015] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Over the past years, certain "vulnerability genes" have been identified that play a key role in the development of mood and anxiety disorders. In particular, a low-expressing variant of the human serotonin transporter (5-HTT) gene has been described that renders individuals more susceptible to adverse experience and hence to the development of psychiatric diseases. However, some authors have recently argued that lower 5-HTT expression not only increases vulnerability to adverse experiences, but also enhances susceptibility to beneficial experiences, thus promoting phenotypic plasticity. The aim of the present study was to assess the effects of 5-HTT expression on susceptibility to beneficial experience in a hypothesis-driven experimental approach. Using a well-established rodent model for the human polymorphism, male heterozygous 5-HTT knockout (HET) and 5-HTT wildtype (WT) mice were either provided with the beneficial experience of cohabitation with a female (mating experience) or kept as naïve controls in single-housing conditions. Following the experimental treatment, they were tested for their anxiety-like behaviour and exploratory locomotion in three widely used behavioural tests. Interestingly, while cohabitation reduced anxiety-like behaviour and increased exploratory locomotion in the open field test in HET mice, it did not affect WT mice, pointing to a genotype-dependent susceptibility to the beneficial experience. Thus, our results might support the view of the low expressing version of the 5-HTT gene as a "plasticity" rather than a "vulnerability" variant.
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Affiliation(s)
- Niklas Kästner
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Badestraße 13, 48149 Münster, Germany.
| | - S Helene Richter
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Badestraße 13, 48149 Münster, Germany
| | - Klaus-Peter Lesch
- Division of Molecular Psychiatry, Laboratory of Translational Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatics & Psychotherapy, University of Würzburg, Füchsleinstraße 15, 97070 Würzburg, Germany
| | - Rebecca S Schreiber
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Badestraße 13, 48149 Münster, Germany
| | - Sylvia Kaiser
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Badestraße 13, 48149 Münster, Germany
| | - Norbert Sachser
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Badestraße 13, 48149 Münster, Germany
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Richter SH, Wollmann E, Schmidt M, Zillmann U, Hellweg R, Sprengel R, Gass P. The effects of neonatal cryoanaesthesia-induced hypothermia on adult emotional behaviour and stress markers in C57BL/6 mice. Behav Brain Res 2014; 270:300-6. [PMID: 24814613 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2014.05.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2014] [Revised: 04/29/2014] [Accepted: 05/01/2014] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
Since the early 1930s, deep hypothermia (cryoanaesthesia) has been a useful anaesthetic in several types of surgery on neonatal rodents. Especially against the background of modern techniques in systems neuroscience, the method enjoys again increasing popularity. However, little is known about its effects on the subsequent adult behavioural and physiological profile. To systematically investigate the effects of neonatal cryoanaesthesia on adult basal and emotional behaviour as well as on physiological development, 59 C57BL/6 mouse pups were randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups: Pups of the first group were exposed to the hypothermia treatment (H) on postnatal day 3, while pups of the other two groups served as controls: These pups either remained in the home cage without any intervention (C), or were separated from the mother for 15 min (MS) to differentiate between effects of neonatal isolation alone versus hypothermia that inevitably goes along with neonatal isolation. Subsequent behavioural analyses were conducted during adulthood (P 84-P 130), including tests for exploratory, anxiety-like and depression-like behaviour. At the age of about 145 days mice were decapitated to record BDNF levels in the hippocampus and serum corticosterone. Altogether, H mice were found to display slightly increased anxiety levels on the O-Maze, but did not differ from the control animals in any other behavioural test. Subtle alterations in anxiety-like behaviour, however, were not accompanied by physiological changes in serum corticosterone and hippocampal BDNF levels, arguing against an overall long-lasting effect of neonatal hypothermia on the emotional profile of adult mice.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Helene Richter
- Research Group Animal Models in Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim/Heidelberg University, 68159 Mannheim, Germany.
| | - Eva Wollmann
- Research Group Animal Models in Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim/Heidelberg University, 68159 Mannheim, Germany
| | - Michaela Schmidt
- Research Group Animal Models in Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim/Heidelberg University, 68159 Mannheim, Germany
| | - Uwe Zillmann
- Research Group Animal Models in Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim/Heidelberg University, 68159 Mannheim, Germany
| | - Rainer Hellweg
- Department of Psychiatry, Charité Campus Mitte, 10117 Berlin, Germany
| | - Rolf Sprengel
- Department of Molecular Neurobiology, Max-Planck-Institute for Medical Research, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Peter Gass
- Research Group Animal Models in Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim/Heidelberg University, 68159 Mannheim, Germany
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Richter SH, Vogel AS, Ueltzhöffer K, Muzzillo C, Vogt MA, Lankisch K, Armbruster-Genç DJN, Riva MA, Fiebach CJ, Gass P, Vollmayr B. Touchscreen-paradigm for mice reveals cross-species evidence for an antagonistic relationship of cognitive flexibility and stability. Front Behav Neurosci 2014; 8:154. [PMID: 24834036 PMCID: PMC4017158 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2014.00154] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2014] [Accepted: 04/14/2014] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
The abilities to either flexibly adjust behavior according to changing demands (cognitive flexibility) or to maintain it in the face of potential distractors (cognitive stability) are critical for adaptive behavior in many situations. Recently, a novel human paradigm has found individual differences of cognitive flexibility and stability to be related to common prefrontal networks. The aims of the present study were, first, to translate this paradigm from humans to mice and, second, to test conceptual predictions of a computational model of prefrontal working memory mechanisms, the Dual State Theory, which assumes an antagonistic relation between cognitive flexibility and stability. Mice were trained in a touchscreen-paradigm to discriminate visual cues. The task involved “ongoing” and cued “switch” trials. In addition distractor cues were interspersed to test the ability to resist distraction, and an ambiguous condition assessed the spontaneous switching between two possible responses without explicit cues. While response times did not differ substantially between conditions, error rates (ER) increased from the “ongoing” baseline condition to the most complex condition, where subjects were required to switch between two responses in the presence of a distracting cue. Importantly, subjects switching more often spontaneously were found to be more distractible by task irrelevant cues, but also more flexible in situations, where switching was required. These results support a dichotomy of cognitive flexibility and stability as predicted by the Dual State Theory. Furthermore, they replicate critical aspects of the human paradigm, which indicates the translational potential of the testing procedure and supports the use of touchscreen procedures in preclinical animal research.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Helene Richter
- Animal Models in Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University Mannheim, Germany ; Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Heidelberg/Mannheim, Germany
| | - Anne S Vogel
- Animal Models in Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University Mannheim, Germany ; Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Heidelberg/Mannheim, Germany
| | - Kai Ueltzhöffer
- Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Heidelberg/Mannheim, Germany ; Department of Psychology, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Chiara Muzzillo
- Department of Pharmacological and Biomolecular Sciences, University of Milan Milan, Italy
| | - Miriam A Vogt
- Animal Models in Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University Mannheim, Germany
| | - Katja Lankisch
- Animal Models in Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University Mannheim, Germany ; Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Heidelberg/Mannheim, Germany
| | - Diana J N Armbruster-Genç
- Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Heidelberg/Mannheim, Germany ; Department of Psychology, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Marco A Riva
- Department of Pharmacological and Biomolecular Sciences, University of Milan Milan, Italy
| | - Christian J Fiebach
- Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Heidelberg/Mannheim, Germany ; Department of Psychology, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Germany ; Center for Individual Development and Adaptive Education Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Peter Gass
- Animal Models in Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University Mannheim, Germany ; Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Heidelberg/Mannheim, Germany
| | - Barbara Vollmayr
- Animal Models in Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University Mannheim, Germany ; Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Heidelberg/Mannheim, Germany
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Richter SH, Zeuch B, Riva MA, Gass P, Vollmayr B. Environmental enrichment ameliorates depressive-like symptoms in young rats bred for learned helplessness. Behav Brain Res 2013; 252:287-92. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2013.06.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2013] [Revised: 06/11/2013] [Accepted: 06/15/2013] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
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Fuss J, Richter SH, Steinle J, Deubert G, Hellweg R, Gass P. Are you real? Visual simulation of social housing by mirror image stimulation in single housed mice. Behav Brain Res 2013; 243:191-8. [PMID: 23333841 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2013.01.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2012] [Revised: 01/07/2013] [Accepted: 01/11/2013] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Abstract
Individual housing of social species is a common phenomenon in laboratory animal facilities. Single housing, however, is known to inflict social deprivation with a number of detrimental consequences. Aiming to improve housing conditions of single housed rodents, we investigated the simulation of social housing by mirrors in a series of behavioural experiments and biochemical parameters in mice. We found that chronic mirror-image stimulation increased exploratory behaviours in the holeboard and novel cage tests, but did not alter anxiety, locomotor, or depression-like behaviours. Moreover, no influence on visual recognition memory was observed. Hippocampal brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels, a biomarker for enrichment effects, were unaltered. In line, mirror-image stimulation did not alter home cage behaviour in mice housed with and without mirrors when left undisturbed. Thus, though we found subtle behavioural effects after long-term mirror exposure, we conclude that the simulation of social housing by mirrors is not sufficient to gain the presumably beneficial outcomes induced by social housing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Johannes Fuss
- RG Animal Models in Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, J 5, 68159 Mannheim, Germany.
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Hoyer C, Vogt MA, Richter SH, Zaun G, Zahedi Y, Maderwald S, Ladd ME, Winterhager E, Grümmer R, Gass P. Repetitive exposure to a 7 Tesla static magnetic field of mice in utero does not cause alterations in basal emotional and cognitive behavior in adulthood. Reprod Toxicol 2012; 34:86-92. [DOI: 10.1016/j.reprotox.2012.03.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2011] [Revised: 02/10/2012] [Accepted: 03/16/2012] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
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Gross AN, Richter SH, Engel AKJ, Würbel H. Cage-induced stereotypies, perseveration and the effects of environmental enrichment in laboratory mice. Behav Brain Res 2012; 234:61-8. [PMID: 22721674 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2012.06.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2011] [Revised: 06/04/2012] [Accepted: 06/08/2012] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
When kept in barren and restrictive cages, animals frequently develop stereotypic behaviour patterns that are characterized by high repetition rates, conspicuous invariance and an apparent lack of function. Although millions of animals are affected, the underlying causes and mechanisms are still unclear. Growing evidence suggests that cage-induced stereotypies may reflect pathological dysfunction within basal ganglia circuitry expressed by perseverative behaviour. In order to assess whether variation in stereotypy performance and variation in perseverative behaviour may have a common cause in ICR CD-1 mice, we assessed the effects of environmental enrichment on both phenomena. We raised 48 female ICR CD-1 mice in standard or enriched cages from three weeks to either 6 or 11 months of age and measured stereotypy level in the home cage and perseveration on an extinction task. We further examined whether enriched rearing conditions (early enrichment) protect mice from the developing stereotypies later in life and whether stereotypies developed in barren cages would persist in an enriched environment (late enrichment) by transferring standard mice to enriched cages and vice versa for 14 weeks after completion of the extinction task. We found no evidence for a causal relation between stereotypy and perseveration in mice. However, transfer to enriched cages reduced stereotypy levels significantly both at 6 and 11 months of age indicating that stereotypies had not become established yet. Finally, we found that removing enrichments at both ages did not induce higher stereotypy levels, thereby confirming earlier reports of a neuroprotective effect of early enrichment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandra N Gross
- Division of Animal Welfare and Ethology, University of Giessen, Frankfurter Strasse 104, D-35392 Giessen, Germany
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Chourbaji S, Hoyer C, Richter SH, Brandwein C, Pfeiffer N, Vogt MA, Vollmayr B, Gass P. Differences in mouse maternal care behavior - is there a genetic impact of the glucocorticoid receptor? PLoS One 2011; 6:e19218. [PMID: 21552522 PMCID: PMC3084270 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0019218] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2011] [Accepted: 03/22/2011] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Depressive episodes are frequently preceded by stressful life events. Evidence from genetic association studies suggests a role for the glucocorticoid receptor (GR), an essential element in the regulation of stress responses, in the pathophysiology of the disorder. Since the stress response system is affected by pregnancy and postpartum-associated changes, it has also been implicated in the pathophysiology of postpartum depression. Using a 2×2 factorial design, we investigated whether a heterozygous deletion of GR would influence maternal care behavior in C57BL/6 and Balb/c mice, two inbred strains known to display qualitative differences in this behavior. Behavioral observation was carried out between postnatal days 1 and 7, followed by a pup retrieval test on postnatal days 7 or 8. While previously noted inter-strain differences were confirmed for different manifestations of caring behavior, self-maintenance and neglecting behaviors as well as the pup retrieval test, no strain-independent effect of the GR mutation was noted. However, an interaction between GR genotype and licking/grooming behavior was observed: it was down-regulated in heterozygous C57BL/6 mice to the level recorded for Balb/c mice. Home cage observation poses minimal disturbance of the dam and her litter as compared to more invasive assessments of dams' emotional behavior. This might be a reason for the absence of any overall effects of the GR mutation, particularly since GR heterozygous animals display a depressive-like phenotype under stressful conditions only. Still, the subtle effect we observed may point towards a role of GR in postpartum affective disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Carolin Hoyer
- Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim, Germany
- * E-mail:
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Peter Gass
- Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim, Germany
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