Complexity of the nest environment: investigating the early determinants of mouse social behaviour
Event details
| Date | 02.11.2010 |
| Hour | 11:30 |
| Speaker | Prof. Igor Branchi, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Dipartimento di Biologia cellulare e Neuroscienze, Roma, Italy |
| Location | |
| Category | Conferences - Seminars |
The early environment is crucial for brain and behavior development. In particular, social experiences involving the interactions with the mother and peers are critical in shaping the adult individual. Though animal models of psychiatric disorders have widely investigated the relevance of the mother-offspring interaction, the peer interaction has so far been rarely studied. The communal nest (CN) is an innovative experimental strategy that favors an comprehensive investigation of the long-term effects not only of mother-offspring but also of peer interaction. CN is a rearing condition employed by up to 90% of mouse females in naturalistic settings and consists of a single nest where two or more mothers keep their pups together and share care-giving. Mice reared in a communal nest display at adulthood relevant changes in bran function and behavior, including high levels of neural plasticity markers and, in particular, elaborate social competencies. Overall, CN appears as an experimental strategy different and complementary to the ones currently used for studying how the early environment determines trajectories of physiological and pathological development.
Practical information
- General public
- Free
Contact
- Carmen Sandi