Assessing Dyadic Social Interactions in Rodent Models of Neurodevelopmental Disorders

The opportunity to engage in positive forms of social interaction is critical for developing appropriate socioemotional and cognitive skills, whereas adverse social experiences or lack of social interactions negatively affect the proper development of brain and behavior, increasing the susceptibility to manifest neuropsychiatric conditions later in life. Interestingly, deficits in the social domain characterize several neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism spectrum disorder, disruptive behavior disorders, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and early-onset schizophrenia. Assessing social behavior is therefore a critical step in the characterization of rodent models of neurodevelopmental disorders, to understand the brain mechanisms underlying dysfunctional socioemotional behaviors and as readouts for possible pharmacological, environmental, and/or genetic manipulations. In this chapter, the experimental procedures for assessing dyadic social (play) interaction with peers in juvenile and adult laboratory rodents (i.e., miceMice and rats) are described to enable the reader to easily replicate these behavioral procedures for use in future research. Measures for quantifying social (play) behavior are described; the influence of biological variables such as strain, sex, and age of animals on the estimation of social behaviorSocial behaviors is examined, and interpretative concepts and caveats are discussed.