Sociability and preference for social novelty in five inbred strains: an approach to assess autistic‐like behavior in mice

Deficits in social interaction are important early markers for autism and related neurodevelopmental disorders with strong genetic components. Standardized behavioral assays that measure the preference of mice for initiating social interactions with novel conspecifics would be of great value for mutant mouse models of autism. We developed a new procedure to assess sociability and the preference for social novelty in mice. To quantitate sociability, each mouse was scored on measures of exploration in a central habituated area, a side chamber containing an unfamiliar conspecific (stranger 1) in a wire cage, or an empty side chamber. In a secondary test, preference for social novelty was quantitated by presenting…

• NC
  North Carolina State University
• NI
  National Institute for Health and Care Research
• NI
  National Institutes of Health
• NI
  National Institute of Mental Health