The DOI matches its Crossref record; 220 of the 220 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Play fighting and the development of the social brain: The rat’s tale
Abstract
The benefits gained by young animals engaging in play fighting have been a subject of conjecture for over a hundred years. Progress in understanding the behavioral development of play fighting and the underlying neurobiology of laboratory rats has produced a coherent model that sheds light on this matter. Depriving rats of typical peer-peer play experience during the juvenile period leads to adults with socio-cognitive deficiencies and these are correlated with physiological and anatomical changes to the neurons of the prefrontal cortex, especially the medial prefrontal cortex. Detailed analysis of juvenile peer play has shown that using the abilities needed to ensure that play fighting is reciprocal is critical for attaining these benefits. Therefore, unlike that which was posited by many earlier hypotheses, play fighting does not train specific motor actions, but rather, improves a skill set that can be applied in many different social and non-social contexts. There are still gaps in the rat model that need to be understood, but the model is well-enough developed to provide a framework for broader comparative studies of mammals from diverse lineages that engage in play fighting.
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“Indeed, depriving rats of social play behaviour during development results in impairments in the social, emotional and cognitive domains (Vanderschuren and Trezza 2014; Pellis et al. 2023).”
From Neurexin1α knockout in rats causes aberrant social behaviour: relevance for autism and schizophrenia (2025) · cites this paper as Pellis et al. 2023
Citations
Cites
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
The neurobiology of social play behaviour: Past, present and future
Achterberg, E. J. M., & Vanderschuren, L. J. M. J. (2023) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105319 · Cited by 56
Animal play and evolution: Seven timely research issues about enigmatic phenomena
Burghardt, G. M., Pellis, S. M., Schank, J. C., Smaldino, P. E., Vanderschuren, L. J. M. J., & Palagi, E. (2024) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2024.105617 · Cited by 32
Self-citationComparing the ontogeny, neurobiology, and function of social play in hamsters and rats
Cooper, M. A., Grizzell, J. A., Whitten, C. J., & Burghardt, G. M. (2023) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105102 · Cited by 28
Ham, J., & Pellis, S. (2023) · Animal Behavior and Cognition · doi:10.26451/abc.10.04.02.2023 · Cited by 22
Self-citationRombaut, C., Roura‐Martínez, D., Lépolard, C., & Gascon, E. (2023) · Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnbeh.2023.1269866 · Cited by 21
Metadata
- Authors
- Pellis, S. M., Pellis, V. C., Ham, J. R., & Stark, R. A.
- Affiliations
- University of Lethbridge (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Pellis, Sergio M.
- Venue
- Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2023-02
- Volume
- 145
- Pages
- 105037
- ISSN
- 0149-7634 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W4313561537
- Semantic Scholar
- 535b631680e0a26eb89259858bbefea2d79dfe67
- Cited by
- 76
- References
- 219
- Citations by year
- 2026: 16 · 2025: 21 · 2024: 23 · 2023: 16
- FWCI
- 22.03
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- Locations
- Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (2018-03706)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Endocrine and Autonomic Systems › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Primate Behavior and Ecology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Child and Animal Learning Development
- Keywords
- play fighting, social brain, social cognition, social deprivation, medial prefrontal cortex, reciprocal behavior, social behavior development, rats
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Brain, Mammals, Neurons, Play and Playthings, Social Behavior, Prefrontal Cortex, Rats
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