SwiftRESEARCH · Research services
Social interaction and three-chamber tests
Sociability, preference for social novelty and free social interaction, scored from video against the definitions in your protocol. Bring recordings you already have, or plan the capture with us.
- Species
- Mice and rats
- View
- An overhead camera with the whole apparatus in frame
What we measure
The endpoints, defined with you before scoring
Sociability
In the three-chamber test, time in the chamber with an unfamiliar animal against the empty one, entries into each chamber, and time sniffing each enclosure.
Preference for social novelty
Time with a second, new animal against the now-familiar first one.
Indices
The index your lab reports, for example (social − empty) ÷ (social + empty).
Free (reciprocal) interaction
Time in social contact, nose-to-nose and anogenital sniffing, following and approaches, for each animal of a pair.
Activity
Distance moved and chamber entries, as a check on general activity.
Two ways to start
Footage you have, or a capture we plan with you
Analyze footage you already have
Send authorized recordings and your study design. We score a sample first and tell you what can be measured, then the full set.
Capture with us
We plan the recording with you on a supported camera setup, your team runs the test under your approved protocol, and we take it from the footage to reviewed results.
How it is scored: Scored from video against the definitions agreed with you, and reviewed by a person before results reach you.
What you receive
Results you can check, and what we need from you
You receive
- A table per animal and phase: chamber times and entries, sniffing times, indices and distance.
- For free interaction: each behavior per animal of the pair, with durations and counts.
- Group summaries, with the statistics agreed in your scope.
- Scored examples on your own video, and the definitions used.
We need
- Video of each phase (habituation, sociability, social novelty) with the whole apparatus in frame.
- Which side holds the unfamiliar animal in each trial.
- For free interaction: how the two animals are told apart, for example a fur mark.
- Animal IDs and groups, coded if you want scoring blind to group.
The test
Where it comes from
Moy and colleagues and Nadler and colleagues (2004) set out the three-chamber procedure: sociability is more time in the chamber with an unfamiliar mouse than in the empty one, and preference for social novelty is more time with a new mouse than with the now-familiar one. Nadler and colleagues found that sniffing directed at the stranger's enclosure went with the time spent in its chamber.
- Moy SS, Nadler JJ, Perez A, et al. (2004). Sociability and preference for social novelty in five inbred strains: an approach to assess autistic-like behavior in mice. Genes, Brain and Behavior 3:287–302. doi:10.1111/j.1601-1848.2004.00076.x
- Nadler JJ, Moy SS, Dold G, et al. (2004). Automated apparatus for quantitation of social approach behaviors in mice. Genes, Brain and Behavior 3:303–314. doi:10.1111/j.1601-183X.2004.00071.x
Questions
Which social tests do you score?
The three-chamber test (sociability and social novelty) and free, reciprocal interaction between two animals. Ask us about other social tests.
Can you score recordings from our own apparatus?
Yes, when the whole apparatus is in view. We score a sample first and tell you what can be measured.
Do you run the animals?
Your team, or the facility you work with, runs the study under your approved protocol. We help plan the recording, then score and analyze it.
How is it priced?
Each project gets a written scope and quote: inputs, deliverables, how results are reviewed and the price. Academic labs get a discount, shown in the quote.
More assays
Other assays we score
Novel object recognition (NOR)
Exploration of each object and the discrimination index, phase by phase.
Behavioral satiety sequence (BSS)
Eating, grooming, activity and resting after a meal, bin by bin.
Kaolin pica (rats)
Kaolin and food intake per animal and period, as a nausea-like measure.
Home-cage activity and sleep-like rest
24-hour activity, light and dark phases, and sleep-like rest bouts.
Open field test
Distance moved, time in the center, thigmotaxis and rearing.
We also scope the elevated plus maze, Y-maze, fear conditioning (freezing), nest building and marble burying, and other tests: describe yours.
Tell us about your study
The endpoint, your species, and whether you already have footage or need help capturing it.