Comparative analysis of the responses to intruders with anxiety‐related behaviors of mouse

Abstract

Anxiety in mice can be measured by behavioral reactivity to social or non‐social Stressors. These behaviors were compared by performing the resident‐intruder test (social) as well as the light‐dark transition and open‐field tests (non‐social) for the FVB, C57BL/6, and BALB/c lines of mouse. The three inbred lines showed significant differences in their responses to intruder mice. Three factors, accounting for about 68% of the total variance, were extracted from the scores obtained from the three behavioral tests. The first two major factors are primarily associated with the anxiety‐related behaviors. One includes anxiety behaviors with a locomotive basis, while the other includes defecation measured in both anxiety tests. The third factor explains the three social behaviors, facial investigation, ano‐genital investigation, and following, observed in the resident intruder test, although facial investigation is also moderately associated with the second factor. The results indicate that the behavioral responses to an intruder share a component distinct from anxiety‐related behaviors.