Any behavior test for social novelty apart from 3 chamber test?
I want to look if there is an impairment in social novelty or social memory (in rats). I wanted to know if apart from the 3 chamber tests, there are others and which one you think is the best or works better.
Thank you!!!!
Hi Vanesa,
Many have tested social novelty within a single cage using a protocol similar to the 3 chamber test. Have the focal rat in its home cage, pair it with one rat for a period of time, then remove that rat, then return the familiar rat and a novel rat and assess social behavior. The advantage of this is that you don't have the potential noise of novel environment which can introduce variability and/or confound your study. Using a breeding cage, given that you use it as a regular cage, not a novel introduction during the experiement, can sometimes help since it give more room to clearly assess proximity. This is especially useful if your standard cages are smaller.
Dear Vanesa, as Benjamin Nephew said, there are certainly alternatives. With the three chamber apparatus you can test social preference. But to test social recognition you can use a single cage. Here you can find the protocol for rats:
Article Social Recognition Task in the Rat
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