Three-Chamber Social Interaction Assay
Objective: Assessment of social interaction preference by measuring mouse interaction with a novel object versus a stranger mouse in a three-chamber assay
This is a Three-Chamber Social Interaction Assay protocol using mouse as the model organism. The procedure involves 3 procedural steps, 1 equipment items, 2 materials. Extracted from a 2016 paper published in Nature.
Model and subjects
mouse • C57BL/6J • male • Adult (tested at least 6 weeks after treatment initiation at 2-4.5 months)
Study window
Estimated timing pending
Core workflow
Habituation to three-chamber box • Social interaction choice test • Measurement of interaction preference
Primary readouts
- Duration of interaction with stranger mouse
- Frequency of interaction with stranger mouse
- Duration of interaction with novel object
- Frequency of interaction with novel object
Key equipment and reagents
Use this page as an execution guide, then fall back to the source paper whenever you need exact exclusions, dosing details, or assay-specific caveats.
Confirm first
- Verify the animal model, intervention setup, and collection timepoints against the source paper.
- Check that every direct vendor link matches the exact specification your lab plans to run.
Use the page like this
- Work through the protocol steps in order and use the inline vendor chips only when you need to source or verify an item.
- Jump to Experimental Context for readouts, data shape, and analysis flow before planning downstream analysis.
Protocol Steps
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Habituation to three-chamber box
Test mice are habituated to the three-chamber box prior to social interaction testing
Note: Duration of habituation not specified in methods
View evidence from paper
“After habituating to the three-chamber box, the test mice were given a choice”
Social interaction choice test
Test mice are given a choice of either interacting with a novel object or a stranger mouse
Note: Specific duration of test not stated in methods
View evidence from paper
“the test mice were given a choice of either interacting with a novel object or a stranger mouse”
Measurement of interaction preference
Quantify duration and frequency of interaction with stranger mouse versus novel object
Note: Analysis performed by observer blinded to genotype using automated tracking software
View evidence from paper
“We found that while WT mice demonstrated strong preference for the stranger mouse over the novel object, KO mice displayed no such preference”