PDF(Pubmed)
Abstract：
Isolation of sex differences as a key characteristic underlying neurobehavioral differentiation is an essential component of studies in neuroscience. The current study sought to address this concern by observing behavioral differences using an automated home cage system for neurobehavioral assessment, a method rapidly increasing in use due to advances in technology and advantages such as reduced handling stress and cross-lab variability. Sex differences in C57BL/6 mice arose for motor activity and circadian-linked behavior, with females being more active compared to males, and males having a stronger anticipatory increase in activity leading up to the onset of the light phase compared to females. These activity differences were observed not only across the lifespan, but also in different genetic background mouse strains across different testing sites showing the generalizability and robustness of these observed effects. Activity differences were also observed in performance on a spatial learning and reversal task with females making more responses and receiving a corresponding elevation in reward pellets. Notably, there were no sex differences in learning nor achieved accuracy, suggesting these observed effects were predominantly in activity. The outcomes of this study align with previous reports showcasing differences in activity between males and females. The comparison across strains and testing sites showed robust and reproducible differences in behavior between female and male mice that are relevant to consider when designing behavioral studies. Furthermore, the observed sex differences in performance on the learning and reversal procedure raise concern for interpretation of behavior differences between sexes due to the attribution of these differences to motor activity rather than cognition.
摘要：
性别差异的隔离是神经行为分化的关键特征，是神经科学研究的重要组成部分。当前的研究试图通过使用自动家庭笼系统进行神经行为评估来观察行为差异来解决这一问题，由于技术的进步和诸如减少的处理应力和跨实验室可变性等优点，该方法在使用中迅速增加。C57BL/6小鼠的运动活动和昼夜节律相关行为产生了性别差异，女性比男性更活跃，与女性相比，男性的预期活动增加更强，导致光相开始。这些活性差异不仅在整个生命周期中观察到，而且在不同的遗传背景下，不同的测试地点的小鼠品系也显示了这些观察到的效果的普遍性和鲁棒性。在空间学习和逆转任务的表现中也观察到了活动差异，女性做出了更多的反应，并在奖励颗粒中获得了相应的提升。值得注意的是,在学习上没有性别差异，也没有达到准确性，表明这些观察到的影响主要是在活动中。这项研究的结果与以前的报告一致，这些报告显示了男性和女性之间的活动差异。跨品系和测试地点的比较显示，雌性和雄性小鼠之间的行为存在强大且可重复的差异，这些差异在设计行为研究时需要考虑。此外，在学习和逆转过程中观察到的性别差异引起了人们对性别之间行为差异的解释的关注，因为这些差异归因于运动活动而不是认知。
