Wolfe Jason, Mende Carolin, Brecht Michael
Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, Humboldt University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Behav Neurosci. 2011 Dec;125(6):900-10. doi: 10.1037/a0026165.
We know much about how rats use their whiskers to discriminate simple tactile properties, but little about how they are used in natural settings. Here we studied whisker motion during social interactions between rats in order to gain a better understanding of natural whisker use in this model system for sensorimotor integration. In the first set of experiments, an intruder was placed in a second rat's home cage. Anogenital sniffing immediately ensued; later in the trial, facial interactions occurred at least as frequently. Whereas much previous work has focused on the importance of anogenital sniffing during social interactions, these facial interactions were accompanied by some of the most intense whisker behaviors described to date. Whisker trimming increased biting but reduced boxing. In addition, whiskers were more protracted and whisking amplitude was larger in aggressive than in nonaggressive interactions. In a second set of experiments, rats interacted facially across a gap. As rats approached each other, whisking amplitude decreased and whiskers were more protracted. Whisker trimming disrupted facial alignment and reduced the frequency of interactions, indicating that whisker use, and possibly whisker protraction, is important for rats to orient themselves with respect to one another. We also found that females whisked with smaller amplitude when interacting with males than with females, and that they held their whiskers less protracted than males. The natural whisker use described here should further our understanding of this important somatosensory system during social interactions.
我们对大鼠如何利用胡须辨别简单触觉特性了解很多，但对它们在自然环境中的使用方式却知之甚少。在此，我们研究了大鼠社交互动过程中的胡须运动，以便更好地理解这个用于感觉运动整合的模型系统中胡须的自然使用情况。在第一组实验中，将一只入侵者放入另一只大鼠的家笼中。随即发生了肛门生殖器嗅探行为；在试验后期，面部互动至少同样频繁。尽管此前许多研究都聚焦于社交互动中肛门生殖器嗅探的重要性，但这些面部互动伴随着一些迄今为止所描述的最为强烈的胡须行为。修剪胡须会增加撕咬行为，但会减少拳击行为。此外，在攻击性互动中，胡须伸展得更多，摆动幅度也比非攻击性互动时更大。在第二组实验中，大鼠隔着一段距离进行面部互动。当大鼠彼此靠近时，摆动幅度减小，胡须伸展得更多。修剪胡须会破坏面部对齐并减少互动频率，这表明胡须的使用，可能还有胡须伸展，对于大鼠相互定位很重要。我们还发现，雌性大鼠与雄性互动时的摆动幅度比与雌性互动时小，而且它们的胡须伸展程度也比雄性大鼠小。这里所描述的胡须自然使用情况应能增进我们对社交互动过程中这个重要体感系统的理解。
