Persistence of attention to a novel conspecific: Some developmental variables in laboratory rats
Abstract
Persistence of social attention by male and female laboratory rats was examined following exposure to novel conspecifics. In Experiment I we compared performance of castrate females treated with a 10‐day regimen of testosterone propionate to that of intact males and castrate female controls. Testosterone significantly prolonged mean social investigation time. Castrate females treated with a relatively high dosage of testosterone failed to differ from intact males. In Experiment II we compared neonatally andorganized female castrates with castrate male and castrate female controls. Postnatal exposure to testosterone increased sensitivity of females to exogenous testosterone in maturity as measured by persistence of social investigation. In Experiment III we compared investigation time of intact and castrated males and females at 10‐day intervals from 40 to 80 days of age. Intact males investigated novel conspecifics significantly longer than other groups, with longest investigation times at 60 and 70 days of age. In Experiment IV we compared investigation times of 30‐day, 60‐day, and 200‐day‐old males. Sixty‐day‐old males investigated significantly longer than 30‐day‐old or 200‐day‐old groups, which failed to differ from each other. The combined results demonstrate a gender and aggregated effect of testosterone on persistence of social investigation.
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Testosterone has been suggested to be involved in sex differences in the duration of social investigation.
“testosterone has been suggested to be involved [15–17]”
From Effects of sex and gonadectomy on social investigation and social recognition in mice (2015) · cites this paper as [15]
Estrogen treatment did not increase social investigation in previous studies.
“nor was it increased by estrogen treatment [15, 16].”
From Effects of sex and gonadectomy on social investigation and social recognition in mice (2015) · cites this paper as [15]
Neonatal androgenisation further increased the sensitivity to exogenous testosterone of female rats as measured by social investigation in adulthood.
“and neonatal androgenisation further increased the sensitivity to exogenous testosterone of female rats as measured by social investigation in adulthood [15, 16].”
From Effects of sex and gonadectomy on social investigation and social recognition in mice (2015) · cites this paper as [15]
Testosterone treatment of adult female rats fully reversed the sex difference in social investigation.
“Interestingly, the studies by Thor et al. also showed that testosterone treatment of adult female rats fully reversed the sex difference [15, 16]”
From Effects of sex and gonadectomy on social investigation and social recognition in mice (2015) · cites this paper as [15]
Previous studies found no difference in social investigation between intact and GDX females.
“Moreover, social investigation did not differ between intact and GDX females in the present or in previous studies [15, 16]”
From Effects of sex and gonadectomy on social investigation and social recognition in mice (2015) · cites this paper as [15]
Thor and co-workers reported very similar results in rats investigating pups and pre-pubertal conspecifics in their home cage.
“This notion is strengthened by the fact that Thor and co-workers reported very similar results in rats investigating pups and pre-pubertal conspecifics in their home cage [15, 16].”
From Effects of sex and gonadectomy on social investigation and social recognition in mice (2015) · cites this paper as [15]
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Social memory of the male laboratory rat.
Thor, D. H., & Holloway, W. R. (1982) · Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology · doi:10.1037/0735-7036.96.6.1000 · Cited by 375 · see citing works
Self-citationInterplay of oxytocin, vasopressin, and sex hormones in the regulation of social recognition
Gabor, C. S., Phan, A., Clipperton-Allen, A. E., Kavaliers, M., & Choleris, E. (2012) · Behavioral Neuroscience · doi:10.1037/a0026464 · Cited by 221 · see citing works
Lukas, M., Toth, I., Veenema, A. H., & Neumann, I. D. (2013) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2012.09.018 · Cited by 211 · see citing works
Effects of sex and gonadectomy on social investigation and social recognition in mice
Karlsson, S. A., Haziri, K., Hansson, E., Kettunen, P., & Westberg, L. (2015) · BMC Neuroscience · doi:10.1186/s12868-015-0221-z · Cited by 72 · see citing works
“Although our results are concurrent with those from rats investigating pups [15, 16] as well as same-sex conspecifics [26], it may be speculated—since we used GDX and intact females, as stimuli—that the observed sex difference in social investigation depends on the sex of the stimulus animals and using males as stimul…”
BackgroundResultInfluentialPerinatal exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls alters social behaviors in rats
Jolous-Jamshidi, B., Cromwell, H. C., McFarland, A. M., & Meserve, L. A. (2010) · Toxicology Letters · doi:10.1016/j.toxlet.2010.08.015 · Cited by 72 · see citing works
McEwen (2004) · doi:10.1016/s1054-3589(04)50016-9 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
- Authors
- Thor, D. H., Wainwright, K. L., & Holloway, W. R.
- Corresponding author
- Thor, D. H.
- Venue
- Developmental Psychobiology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 1982-01
- Volume
- 15
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 1-8
- ISSN
- 0012-1630 (ISSN-L)
- 1098-2302
- OpenAlex
- W2024764185
- Cited by
- 84
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 19 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 5
- FWCI
- 1.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Developmental Psychobiology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Sexual Differentiation and Disorders
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Animal Behavior and Reproduction
- Keywords
- social investigation, social attention, testosterone, androgenization, castration, sex differences, age effects, social behavior development, laboratory rats
- MeSH terms
- Age Factors, Animals, Castration, Exploratory Behavior, Female, Male, Sex Factors, Social Behavior, Testosterone, Rats
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