Are mice a bad model for successive negative contrast?

Abstract

Successive negative contrast (SNC) is a procedure in which animals trained with a large reward consume less of a subsequent smaller reward than animals always trained with the small reward. Studies of SNC in rats have emerged as an important tool in understanding the affective neuroscience of unexpected loss. Establishing a similar procedure in a murine model would allow access to a greater toolbox of neuroscience techniques (e.g., optogenetics, transgenics) that are more readily available in mice than rats. While the rat SNC literature has been thriving for decades, only a few studies report SNC effects in mice. This paper critically reviews the current literature on SNC in mice and presents a failure to replicate SNC using procedures commonly used in rats. Overall, the limited evidence available in mice and a lack of consistent findings suggest that mice may not be the most suitable model for studying the neurobiology of frustration, particularly when compared to the more established rat model.