Study on the mechanisms underlying the effect of social experience on the development of social behavior in laboratory mice

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Individually housing after weaning in male mice increases aggressive behavior and/or timid responses (withdrawal and freezing to the approach/contact of the opponent male) when tested in adulthood. Individually housed males exposed to the cage used by other individually housed males did not show any change in aggressive behavior or timid responses, but the exposure to the cage used by grouped males reduced aggressive behavior. In female mice, individual housing after weaning increased only timid responses when tested in adulthood. These results suggest that such an enhanced timid response is the fundamental trait of individually housed mice, and that substances contained in the excrement of grouped males are involved in the control of aggression.