Source Paper
Synaptic changes contribute to persistent extra-motor behaviour deficits in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
Luan W, San Gil R, Madrid San Martin L, Cao MC, Vassallu F et al.
Acta Neuropathol Commun • 2025
Social Interaction Test
Objective: Assess social interaction behavior including sociability and social memory/recognition
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Protocol Steps
Habituation phase
Allow the test animal to explore freely in the testing arena for 5 minutes
View evidence from paper
“Before testing, the animal was allowed to explore freely for 5 min in the testing arena”
Sociability testing session setup
Place one wire cage containing an unfamiliar mouse (same sex) and another wire cage containing a novel black LEGO object
View evidence from paper
“During the sociability testing session, one wire cage contained an unfamiliar C57BL/6JAusb mouse (same sex as test mouse), and the other one contained a novel object made of black LEGO™”
Social recognition session setup
Replace the inanimate object with a new mouse as the 'novel' mouse, while the previous 'novel' mouse becomes the 'familiar' mouse
View evidence from paper
“During the social recognition session for assessment of social memory, the inanimate object was replaced by a new mouse as the 'novel' mouse, whereases, the previous 'novel' mouse became the 'familiar' mouse”
Testing session
Place the testing animal in the centre of the middle chamber and allow exploration for 5 minutes
View evidence from paper
“The testing animal was placed in the centre of the middle chamber to explore for 5 min”
Video analysis
Analyze video records for social interaction time by a trained experimenter blinded to treatment
View evidence from paper
“Video records were defined and analysed as above by a trained experimenter who was blinded to the treatment”