Social Isolation Stress in Adolescence, but not Adulthood, Produces Hypersocial Behavior in Adult Male and Female C57BL/6J Mice
Chronic stress during the developmental period of adolescence increases susceptibility to many neuropsychiatric diseases in adulthood, including anxiety, affective, and alcohol/substance use disorders. Preclinical rodent models of adolescent stress have produced varying results that are species, str...
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| Format: | Article |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2020-07-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnbeh.2020.00129/full |
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| author | Jean K. Rivera-Irizarry Mary Jane Skelly Kristen E. Pleil Kristen E. Pleil Kristen E. Pleil |
| author_facet | Jean K. Rivera-Irizarry Mary Jane Skelly Kristen E. Pleil Kristen E. Pleil Kristen E. Pleil |
| author_sort | Jean K. Rivera-Irizarry |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Chronic stress during the developmental period of adolescence increases susceptibility to many neuropsychiatric diseases in adulthood, including anxiety, affective, and alcohol/substance use disorders. Preclinical rodent models of adolescent stress have produced varying results that are species, strain, sex, and laboratory-dependent. However, adolescent social isolation is a potent stressor in humans that has been reliably modeled in male rats, increasing adult anxiety-like and alcohol drinking behaviors, among others. In this study, we examined the generalizability and sex-dependence of this model in C57BL/6J mice, the most commonly used rodent strain in neuroscience research. We also performed a parallel study using social isolation in adulthood to understand the impact of adult social isolation on basal behavioral phenotypes. We found that 6 weeks of social isolation with minimal handling in adolescence through early adulthood [postnatal day (PD) 28–70] produced a hypersocial phenotype in both male and female mice and an anxiolytic phenotype in the elevated plus-maze in female mice. However, it had no effects in other assays for avoidance behavior or on fear conditioning, alcohol drinking, reward or aversion sensitivity, or novel object exploration in either sex. In contrast, 6 weeks of social isolation in adulthood beginning at PD77 produced an anxiogenic phenotype in the light/dark box but had no effects on any other assays. Altogether, our results suggest that: (1) adolescence is a critical period for social stress in C57BL/6J mice, producing aberrant social behavior in a sex-independent manner; and (2) chronic individual housing in adulthood does not alter basal behavioral phenotypes that may confound interpretation of behavior following other laboratory manipulations. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T01:10:20Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f26708bfa0f34fd69f00f738732685d8 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1662-5153 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T01:10:20Z |
| publishDate | 2020-07-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj.art-f26708bfa0f34fd69f00f738732685d82022-12-22T01:26:04ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience1662-51532020-07-011410.3389/fnbeh.2020.00129555111Social Isolation Stress in Adolescence, but not Adulthood, Produces Hypersocial Behavior in Adult Male and Female C57BL/6J MiceJean K. Rivera-Irizarry0Mary Jane Skelly1Kristen E. Pleil2Kristen E. Pleil3Kristen E. Pleil4Graduate Program in Neuroscience, Weill Cornell Medicine Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Cornell University, New York, NY, United StatesDepartment of Pharmacology, Weill Cornell Medicine, Cornell University, New York, NY, United StatesGraduate Program in Neuroscience, Weill Cornell Medicine Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Cornell University, New York, NY, United StatesDepartment of Pharmacology, Weill Cornell Medicine, Cornell University, New York, NY, United StatesGraduate Program in Pharmacology, Weill Cornell Medicine, Cornell University, New York, NY, United StatesChronic stress during the developmental period of adolescence increases susceptibility to many neuropsychiatric diseases in adulthood, including anxiety, affective, and alcohol/substance use disorders. Preclinical rodent models of adolescent stress have produced varying results that are species, strain, sex, and laboratory-dependent. However, adolescent social isolation is a potent stressor in humans that has been reliably modeled in male rats, increasing adult anxiety-like and alcohol drinking behaviors, among others. In this study, we examined the generalizability and sex-dependence of this model in C57BL/6J mice, the most commonly used rodent strain in neuroscience research. We also performed a parallel study using social isolation in adulthood to understand the impact of adult social isolation on basal behavioral phenotypes. We found that 6 weeks of social isolation with minimal handling in adolescence through early adulthood [postnatal day (PD) 28–70] produced a hypersocial phenotype in both male and female mice and an anxiolytic phenotype in the elevated plus-maze in female mice. However, it had no effects in other assays for avoidance behavior or on fear conditioning, alcohol drinking, reward or aversion sensitivity, or novel object exploration in either sex. In contrast, 6 weeks of social isolation in adulthood beginning at PD77 produced an anxiogenic phenotype in the light/dark box but had no effects on any other assays. Altogether, our results suggest that: (1) adolescence is a critical period for social stress in C57BL/6J mice, producing aberrant social behavior in a sex-independent manner; and (2) chronic individual housing in adulthood does not alter basal behavioral phenotypes that may confound interpretation of behavior following other laboratory manipulations.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnbeh.2020.00129/fullchronic developmental stressanxietyalcohol use disorderbinge alcohol drinkingreward-seekingaversion resistance |
| spellingShingle | Jean K. Rivera-Irizarry Mary Jane Skelly Kristen E. Pleil Kristen E. Pleil Kristen E. Pleil Social Isolation Stress in Adolescence, but not Adulthood, Produces Hypersocial Behavior in Adult Male and Female C57BL/6J Mice Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience chronic developmental stress anxiety alcohol use disorder binge alcohol drinking reward-seeking aversion resistance |
| title | Social Isolation Stress in Adolescence, but not Adulthood, Produces Hypersocial Behavior in Adult Male and Female C57BL/6J Mice |
| title_full | Social Isolation Stress in Adolescence, but not Adulthood, Produces Hypersocial Behavior in Adult Male and Female C57BL/6J Mice |
| title_fullStr | Social Isolation Stress in Adolescence, but not Adulthood, Produces Hypersocial Behavior in Adult Male and Female C57BL/6J Mice |
| title_full_unstemmed | Social Isolation Stress in Adolescence, but not Adulthood, Produces Hypersocial Behavior in Adult Male and Female C57BL/6J Mice |
| title_short | Social Isolation Stress in Adolescence, but not Adulthood, Produces Hypersocial Behavior in Adult Male and Female C57BL/6J Mice |
| title_sort | social isolation stress in adolescence but not adulthood produces hypersocial behavior in adult male and female c57bl 6j mice |
| topic | chronic developmental stress anxiety alcohol use disorder binge alcohol drinking reward-seeking aversion resistance |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnbeh.2020.00129/full |
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