Presenter(s)
Hannah Casselman
Abstract
Social rank and dominance have a profound impact on the survival of many animals. Social dominance fosters social stability and modulates neuroactivity, immune response, and endocrine function. Understanding and measuring social rank in laboratory mice is crucial when assessing social behavior. Previous research has focused primary on dominance in male mice based on measurements of aggressive and competitive behaviors. However, it remains unclear how social dominance is exhibited in female mice and which behavioral assays are most effective for measuring their rank. Males tend to be aggressive and territorial, whereas females engage in less aggressive and visibly competitive behaviors. Given the importance of social dominance hierarchies and the gap regarding female dominance, this study seeks to assess the efficacy of different social dominance behavioral assays in female mice. Assays commonly used in males were utilized to assess CD1 female mice and their behavior was compared to CD1 males. The assays used were urine marking, observation of agonistic behaviors, tube test, and a food competition test. Findings show that social rank in females was unstable during both the observation of agonistic behaviors and the urine marking test in comparison with males, while the tube test showed unstable social rank in both males and females. However, during the food competition, female winners exhibited significantly shorter latency time than losers during competition but not during training, indicating that the more dominant mouse was more competitive. Similar findings were observed in males. These results reveal that behavioral assays used in males are difficult to replicate in females, highlighting clear sex differences between CD1 males and females. While the food competition test was an effective way to measure social dominance in CD1 female mice, it is necessary to continue evaluating dominance and rank in female mice to foster a greater understanding of female social behavior.
College
College of Liberal Arts
Department
Psychology
Campus
Winona
First Advisor/Mentor
Richard Deyo
Location
Kryzsko Great River Ballroom, Winona, Minnesota; United States
Start Date
4-23-2026 9:00 AM
End Date
4-23-2026 10:00 AM
Presentation Type
Poster Session
Format of Presentation or Performance
In-Person
Session
1a=9am-10am
Poster Number
11
Social Dominance in CD1 Female Mice
Kryzsko Great River Ballroom, Winona, Minnesota; United States
Social rank and dominance have a profound impact on the survival of many animals. Social dominance fosters social stability and modulates neuroactivity, immune response, and endocrine function. Understanding and measuring social rank in laboratory mice is crucial when assessing social behavior. Previous research has focused primary on dominance in male mice based on measurements of aggressive and competitive behaviors. However, it remains unclear how social dominance is exhibited in female mice and which behavioral assays are most effective for measuring their rank. Males tend to be aggressive and territorial, whereas females engage in less aggressive and visibly competitive behaviors. Given the importance of social dominance hierarchies and the gap regarding female dominance, this study seeks to assess the efficacy of different social dominance behavioral assays in female mice. Assays commonly used in males were utilized to assess CD1 female mice and their behavior was compared to CD1 males. The assays used were urine marking, observation of agonistic behaviors, tube test, and a food competition test. Findings show that social rank in females was unstable during both the observation of agonistic behaviors and the urine marking test in comparison with males, while the tube test showed unstable social rank in both males and females. However, during the food competition, female winners exhibited significantly shorter latency time than losers during competition but not during training, indicating that the more dominant mouse was more competitive. Similar findings were observed in males. These results reveal that behavioral assays used in males are difficult to replicate in females, highlighting clear sex differences between CD1 males and females. While the food competition test was an effective way to measure social dominance in CD1 female mice, it is necessary to continue evaluating dominance and rank in female mice to foster a greater understanding of female social behavior.
Comments
Casselman, Hannah G