View in EDS HTML Full Text PDF Full Text

Aggression is not blind: dominance and social history modulate murine responses to social instigation.

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Title: Aggression is not blind: dominance and social history modulate murine responses to social instigation.
Authors: Nagai, Tomoya (AUTHOR), Takahashi, Aki (AUTHOR)
Source: Psychopharmacology. May2026, Vol. 243 Issue 5, p989-1002. 14p.
Subjects: Animal aggression, Social dominance, Laboratory mice, Aggression (Psychology), Human behavior models, Familiarity (Psychology), Interpersonal confrontation, Social interaction
Abstract: Rationale: The social instigation procedure is a behavioral model used to induce escalated aggression in male mice. In this procedure, a brief indirect encounter with a novel rival male (instigator) placed in a tube enhances aggression toward an intruder in the subsequent agonistic encounter. However, social factors that drive this pro-aggressive effect remain unclear. Objectives: This study investigates how social novelty, familiarity, and dominant-subordinate hierarchy influence the pro-aggressive effect of social instigation. Methods: A male instigator in a perforated tube was placed in the test mouse's home cage for 5 min, followed by the introduction of an intruder male to assess the test animal's aggression. Different types of instigators were used to examine the roles of social novelty and dominance hierarchy. Aggressive behavior was compared to baseline aggression without social instigation. Results: Exposure to a novel male instigator escalated aggression, as indicated by shorter attack latency and increased frequency and duration of aggressive behaviors. In contrast, when a familiar intruder male was presented as the instigator, attack latency was reduced but the total amount of aggressive behaviors remained unchanged. When the instigator had an established dominant-subordinate relationship with the test mouse, aggressive behavior was not enhanced. However, when a familiar male without a prior dominant-subordinate relationship was used, aggressive behavior increased to levels comparable to those induced by a novel instigator. Conclusions: Social novelty and an ambiguous social hierarchy of the instigator promote the pro-aggressive effect of social instigation in male mice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Psychopharmacology is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection
Full text is not displayed to guests.
FullText Links:
  – Type: pdflink
Text:
  Availability: 1
Header DbId: pbh
DbLabel: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection
An: 194358467
AccessLevel: 6
PubType: Academic Journal
PubTypeId: academicJournal
PreciseRelevancyScore: 0
IllustrationInfo
Items – Name: Title
  Label: Title
  Group: Ti
  Data: Aggression is not blind: dominance and social history modulate murine responses to social instigation.
– Name: Author
  Label: Authors
  Group: Au
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Nagai%2C+Tomoya%22">Nagai, Tomoya</searchLink> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Takahashi%2C+Aki%22">Takahashi, Aki</searchLink> (AUTHOR)
– Name: TitleSource
  Label: Source
  Group: Src
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Psychopharmacology%22">Psychopharmacology</searchLink>. May2026, Vol. 243 Issue 5, p989-1002. 14p.
– Name: Subject
  Label: Subjects
  Group: Su
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Animal+aggression%22">Animal aggression</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Social+dominance%22">Social dominance</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Laboratory+mice%22">Laboratory mice</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Aggression+%28Psychology%29%22">Aggression (Psychology)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Human+behavior+models%22">Human behavior models</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Familiarity+%28Psychology%29%22">Familiarity (Psychology)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Interpersonal+confrontation%22">Interpersonal confrontation</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Social+interaction%22">Social interaction</searchLink>
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
  Group: Ab
  Data: Rationale: The social instigation procedure is a behavioral model used to induce escalated aggression in male mice. In this procedure, a brief indirect encounter with a novel rival male (instigator) placed in a tube enhances aggression toward an intruder in the subsequent agonistic encounter. However, social factors that drive this pro-aggressive effect remain unclear. Objectives: This study investigates how social novelty, familiarity, and dominant-subordinate hierarchy influence the pro-aggressive effect of social instigation. Methods: A male instigator in a perforated tube was placed in the test mouse's home cage for 5 min, followed by the introduction of an intruder male to assess the test animal's aggression. Different types of instigators were used to examine the roles of social novelty and dominance hierarchy. Aggressive behavior was compared to baseline aggression without social instigation. Results: Exposure to a novel male instigator escalated aggression, as indicated by shorter attack latency and increased frequency and duration of aggressive behaviors. In contrast, when a familiar intruder male was presented as the instigator, attack latency was reduced but the total amount of aggressive behaviors remained unchanged. When the instigator had an established dominant-subordinate relationship with the test mouse, aggressive behavior was not enhanced. However, when a familiar male without a prior dominant-subordinate relationship was used, aggressive behavior increased to levels comparable to those induced by a novel instigator. Conclusions: Social novelty and an ambiguous social hierarchy of the instigator promote the pro-aggressive effect of social instigation in male mice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
– Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright
  Label:
  Group: Ab
  Data: <i>Copyright of Psychopharmacology is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
PLink https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=pbh&AN=194358467
RecordInfo BibRecord:
  BibEntity:
    Identifiers:
      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1007/s00213-025-06824-9
    Languages:
      – Code: eng
        Text: English
    PhysicalDescription:
      Pagination:
        PageCount: 14
        StartPage: 989
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Animal aggression
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Social dominance
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Laboratory mice
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Aggression (Psychology)
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Human behavior models
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Familiarity (Psychology)
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Interpersonal confrontation
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Social interaction
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: Aggression is not blind: dominance and social history modulate murine responses to social instigation.
        Type: main
  BibRelationships:
    HasContributorRelationships:
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Nagai, Tomoya
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Takahashi, Aki
    IsPartOfRelationships:
      – BibEntity:
          Dates:
            – D: 01
              M: 05
              Text: May2026
              Type: published
              Y: 2026
          Identifiers:
            – Type: issn-print
              Value: 00333158
          Numbering:
            – Type: volume
              Value: 243
            – Type: issue
              Value: 5
          Titles:
            – TitleFull: Psychopharmacology
              Type: main
ResultId 1