A novel system for tracking social preference dynamics in mice reveals sex- and strain-specific characteristics.
Shai Netser, Shani Haskal, Hen Magalnik and 1 others
PMID 29026510WHAT IT FOUND
Male mice kept a social preference longer than female mice in an automated mouse test.
One autism-model mouse strain showed weaker, shorter social preference. This is animal behaviour, not human therapy.
Key findings
01The automated tracking matched manual observation of investigation time closely.
02In the social preference test, male mice kept a clear preference for the social stimulus later than female mice did.
03BTBR male mice showed weaker and less persistent social preference than C57BL/6J male mice, resembling female C57BL/6J mice.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
The work is in mice and does not test people, therapy, or speech-language outcomes. The BTBR strain comparison used a small group. The findings describe social investigation dynamics in animals, not clinical effects.
Declared interests
The supplied text lists funding from the Human Frontier Science Program, the Israel Science Foundation, and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Space. It does not state author conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these mouse social preference patterns as evidence about human autism or therapy. The paper reports animal behaviour, not patient outcomes.