了解社会交往行为的复杂动态,比如探索,通信,求爱,交配,以及动物模型中的攻击性,对于揭示这些行为背后的关键神经和荷尔蒙机制至关重要。两个入侵者测试旨在调查居民对测试男性的住所内男性和女性入侵者的行为。在这个模拟自然条件的测试中,研究了社会互动的几个方面:探索,求爱,交配,和攻击性行为。由于交配和攻击涉及重叠的神经回路,测试这两种行为的行为设置最能反映它们的竞争性。我们的发现表明,常驻雄性小鼠表现出与雌性入侵者交流的强烈偏好,这与测试男性的基线睾酮水平相关。在BALB/c男性中也发现了双入侵者测试中相关的女性偏好。行为崩溃表明,肛门生殖器嗅探是一个关键的行为特征,可以将居民男性的行为区分为不同性别的入侵者。此外,男性与女性入侵者的互动伴随着下丘脑腹内侧神经元的激活。我们证明,气味识别是男性居民对女性偏好的基础,作为实验性嗅觉缺失减少了与女性入侵者的交流。我们得出结论,两个入侵者测试设置是研究动物模型中社交交流的神经基础的有用工具,详细分析了实验动物在最自然条件下的社会行为的各个方面。
Understanding the complex dynamics of social communication behaviors, such as exploration, communication, courtship, mating, and aggression in animal models, is crucial to reveal key neural and hormonal mechanisms underlying these behaviors. The two-intruders test is designed to investigate residents\' behavior toward both male and female intruders within the home cage of the test male. During this test imitating natural conditions, several aspects of social interaction were investigated: Exploration, courtship, mating, and aggressive behavior. As mating and aggression involve overlapping neural circuits, the behavioral setup testing both behaviors is best at reflecting their competitive nature. Our findings demonstrate that resident male mice exhibit strong preference to communicate with a female intruder, which correlates with baseline testosterone levels of test males. Relevant female preference in the two-intruders test was also found in BALB/c males. Behavioral breakdown revealed the anogenital sniffing as a key behavioral feature that discriminates resident male behavior toward intruders of different sex. Furthermore, resident male interaction with female intruder was accompanied by neuronal activation in the ventromedial hypothalamus. We demonstrate that odor recognition underlies preference toward females in male residents, as experimental anosmia reduced communication with a female intruder. We conclude the two-intruders test setup to be a useful tool to study the neurological basis of social communication in animal models, which provides detailed analysis of various aspects of the laboratory animals\' social behavior in the most natural conditions.