Social Stress Effects on Territorial Marking and Ultrasonic Vocalizations in Mice

Acute social defeat (SD) leads to transient and persistent physiological and behavioral changes. We examined the effects of acute SD on territorial urine marking and ultrasonic courtship vocalizations in DBA/2 male mice. Both behaviors are considered androgen dependent and are influenced by social s...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physiology & behavior 1999-11, Vol.67 (5), p.769-775
Main Authors: Lumley, L.A, Sipos, M.L, Charles, R.C, Charles, R.F, Meyerhoff, J.L
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aggression - physiology
Animals
Behavioral psychophysiology
Biological and medical sciences
Defeat
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Male
Mice
Mice, Inbred C57BL
Mice, Inbred DBA
Miscellaneous
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Social Environment
Social stress
Stress
Stress, Psychological - psychology
Territorial behavior
Territorial urine marking
Territoriality
Ultrasonic vocalizations
Ultrasonics
Urination - physiology
Urine
Vocalization, Animal - physiology
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Summary:Acute social defeat (SD) leads to transient and persistent physiological and behavioral changes. We examined the effects of acute SD on territorial urine marking and ultrasonic courtship vocalizations in DBA/2 male mice. Both behaviors are considered androgen dependent and are influenced by social status, with dominant mice displaying more of both behaviors. In Experiment 1, male mice that received SD displayed prolonged inhibition of territorial urine marking, relative to nondefeated control mice (NOSD). In addition, territorial marking increased with repeated tests. In Experiment 2, male mice that received 3 successive days of SD displayed fewer ultrasonic courtship vocalizations at 30 min. post-SD1 and 30 min. post-SD2, relative to NOSD mice. In Experiment 2, we also observed decreased territorial marking 4 weeks post-SD. In sum, SD induced prolonged inhibition of territorial marking, but had only transient effects on ultrasonic courtship vocalizations, suggesting that different mechanisms may mediate the maintenance of these behaviors.
ISSN:0031-9384
1873-507X
DOI:10.1016/S0031-9384(99)00131-6