Page Damon T, Kuti Orsolya J, Sur Mriganka
Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA, USA.
Front Behav Neurosci. 2009 Nov 30;3:48. doi: 10.3389/neuro.08.048.2009. eCollection 2009.
Altered sociability is a core feature of a variety of human neurological disorders, including autism. Social behaviors may be tested in animal models, such as mice, to study the biological basis of sociability and how this is altered in neurodevelopmental disorders. A quantifiable social behavior frequently used to assess sociability in the mouse is the tendency to approach and interact with an unfamiliar mouse. Here we present a novel computer-assisted method for scoring social approach behavior in mice using a three-chambered apparatus and freely available software. We find consistent results between data scored using the computer-assisted method and a human observer, making computerized assessment a reliable, low cost, high-throughput method for testing sociability.
社交行为改变是包括自闭症在内的多种人类神经疾病的核心特征。可以在动物模型（如小鼠）中测试社交行为，以研究社交性的生物学基础以及在神经发育障碍中社交性是如何改变的。一种常用于评估小鼠社交性的可量化社交行为是接近陌生小鼠并与之互动的倾向。在此，我们提出一种新颖的计算机辅助方法，使用三室装置和免费软件对小鼠的社交接近行为进行评分。我们发现，使用计算机辅助方法得出的数据与人类观察者得出的数据结果一致，这使得计算机化评估成为一种可靠、低成本、高通量的社交性测试方法。
