Scientific Interest of Social Behaviour in Animal Models of Human Diseases - Neuroscience and Medicine

NM > Vol.4 No.1, March 2013

Scientific Interest of Social Behaviour in Animal Models of Human Diseases ()

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DOI: 10.4236/nm.2013.41008 5,020 Downloads 8,720 Views Citations

Author(s)

Virginia Torres-Lista, Lydia Giménez-Llort

Affiliation(s)

Institut of Neuroscience, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
Medical Psychology Unit, Department of Psychiatry and Forensic Medicine, School of Medicine, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain..

ABSTRACT

The overview shows that the scientific interest in social behaviour in mice has exponentially grown in the last two decades in parallel with advances in biotechnology and the emergence of genetically engineered mice. Most of the studies are psychopharmacological or look for the neurochemical bases of social behaviour and its alterations. However, the rol of social behaviour per se is increasing mainly in those research works aimed to model neuropsychiatric and neurode-generative diseases. In fact, at the translational level, the study of social behaviour in murine models is relevant because changes in social behaviour are present in most neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders as well as in other diseases that, directly or indirectly, affect the sphere of social relationships. The consideration of social behaviour in the experimental design of basic and translational research works using murine models may improve the predictive validity of new preventive and/or therapeutic strategies. The present work provides conceptual description of social behaviour in mice, the tests used to measure it and analyzes its increasing interest, mostly in the area of neuroscience. It reviews the 821 scientific studies (in English) included in the MEDLINE database from 1930 to December 2012. Keywords used for the search where those related to the different kinds of social behaviour (spontaneous or induced) in mice and took into account the diversity of experimental paradigms (dyads, groups, parental relationships, isolation) and the wide spectrum of behavioural tests available.

KEYWORDS

Social Neuroscience; Animal Models; Basic and Translational Research; Neurodegenerative Diseases; Neuropsychiatric Disorders; Social Behaviour

Share and Cite:

Torres-Lista, V. and Giménez-Llort, L. (2013) Scientific Interest of Social Behaviour in Animal Models of Human Diseases. Neuroscience and Medicine, 4, 50-58. doi: 10.4236/nm.2013.41008.

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