Evaluating the play fighting of rats: A sociological perspective
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: Play fighting is a prominent social behavior in juvenile rats and is widely used to assess social motivation, affect, and neurobiological function. Traditional dyadic paradigms quantify how much play occurs and how it is expressed but provide limited insight into how rats select play partners. NEW METHOD: We synthesize evidence from group-based paradigms that allow animals to choose among multiple partners and highlight analytical approaches-including social network analysis and machine-learning-based tracking-that enable quantification of partner selection and group dynamics. RESULTS: Across studies, rats do not distribute play randomly but show apparent partner preferences influenced by familiarity, strain, sex, dominance, and group composition. These preferences reveal socially relevant effects of experimental manipulations that are often undetected by conventional measures. Substantial individual variation exists in both selectivity and attractiveness as play partners. COMPARISON WITH EXISTING METHODS: Compared to dyadic testing, group-based paradigms uncover a sociological dimension of play behavior, revealing effects that may be masked when animals are restricted to a single partner. Dyadic tests remain useful for assessing play microstructure but may underestimate changes in social decision-making. CONCLUSIONS: Assessing not only how rats play, but with whom they choose to play, is essential for understanding the regulation of social play. Integrating group-based paradigms with emerging analytical tools provides a more comprehensive framework for studying the neurobiology of social behavior.
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Self-citationOrsucci, I. C., Becker, K. D., Ham, J. R., Lee, J. D. A., Bowden, S. M., & Veenema, A. H. (2025) · Physiology & Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.115080 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Self-citationNoradrenergic modulation of play in Sprague-Dawley and F344 rats
Siviy, S. M., Martin, M. A., & Campbell, C. M. (2023) · Psychopharmacology · doi:10.1007/s00213-023-06419-2 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Partner Choice and Context‐Dependent Sex Differences in Rat Rough‐and‐Tumble Play
Ham, J. R., Pellis, S. M., & McDonald, R. J. (2026) · European Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1111/ejn.70426 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Self-citationHam, J. R., Iwaniuk, A. N., & Pellis, S. M. (2026) · Behavioural Brain Research · doi:10.1016/j.bbr.2026.116198 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Self-citation
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 3
- Ham, J.R. (2025). Going beyond the dyad: The dynamics of social play and brain development [Doctoral dissertation, University of Lethbridge]. 〈https://hdl.handle.net/10133/7137〉.
- Ham, J.R., Jaiswal, D., Achterberg, E.J.M., & Pellis, S.M. (in press). (n.d.)Partner preference strength is not influenced by how motivated juvenile male rats are to engage in play fighting. Animal Behavior and Cognition.
- Waner-Mariquito, R. (2025). How domestication and selective breeding changed the cerebellar anatomy and play partner preference in rats (Rattus norvegicus) [MSc Thesis, University of Lethbridge]. 〈https://opus.uleth.ca/server/api/core/bitstreams/da057ee3-b83d-4b89-b6c6-e469f338ded2/content〉.
Cited by
Still being checked.
- Authors
- Ham, J. R., Pellis, S. M., Pellis, V. C., & Achterberg, E. J. M.
- Affiliations
- University of Lethbridge (CA)
- Utrecht University (NL)
- Corresponding author
- Ham, Jackson R.
- Venue
- Journal of Neuroscience Methods
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2026-10
- Volume
- 434
- Pages
- 110836
- ISSN
- 0165-0270 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W7165409142
- Semantic Scholar
- bf5510bfd16aa8a032c22554e05fe91445d5ba8e
- Cited by
- 0
- References
- 112
- FWCI
- 0.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Neuroscience Methods (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Utrecht University Repository (Utrecht University) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Primate Behavior and Ecology
- Health Sciences › Veterinary › Small Animals › Animal Behavior and Welfare Studies
- Keywords
- play fighting, rats, mate choice, social play, social network analysis, social decision-making, familiarity, dominance, sex differences, interindividual variability, neurobiology of social behavior
- MeSH terms
- Aggression, Animals, Behavior, Animal, Female, Male, Play and Playthings, Social Behavior, Rats
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