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Review
. 2022 Mar;21(3):e12731.
doi: 10.1111/gbb.12731. Epub 2021 Apr 11.

Manifestations of domination: Assessments of social dominance in rodents

Hannah D Fulenwider  1 , Maya A Caruso  1 , Andrey E Ryabinin  1
Affiliations
Review

Manifestations of domination: Assessments of social dominance in rodents

Hannah D Fulenwider et al. Genes Brain Behav. 2022 Mar.

Abstract

Social hierarchies are ubiquitous features of virtually all animal groups. The varying social ranks of members within these groups have profound effects on both physical and emotional health, with lower-ranked individuals typically being the most adversely affected by their respective ranks. Thus, reliable measures of social dominance in preclinical rodent models are necessary to better understand the effects of an individual's social rank on other behaviors and physiological processes. In this review, we outline the primary methodologies used to assess social dominance in various rodent species: those that are based on analyses of agonistic behaviors, and those that are based on resource competition. In synthesizing this review, we conclude that assays based on resource competition may be better suited to characterize social dominance in a wider variety of rodent species and strains, and in both males and females. Lastly, albeit expectedly, we demonstrate that similarly to many other areas of preclinical research, studies incorporating female subjects are lacking in comparison to those using males. These findings emphasize the need for an increased number of studies assessing social dominance in females to form a more comprehensive understanding of this behavioral phenomenon.

Keywords: agonistic behavior; hierarchy; resource competition; social rank.

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Conflict of interest statement

Authors declare no conflict of interests.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Summary of species and sexes used in each measure of social dominance. (A) Agonistic behavior. (B) Resource competition
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Schematics of experimental setup for agonistic behavioral analyses. (A) Common examples of agonistic behaviors exhibited by dominant and subordinate subjects. Often conducted in a standard homecage or neutral arena. (B) Example of visible burrow system (VBS), a group‐housed, mixed‐sex design that promotes strict, despotic hierarchies among male subjects. In addition to the agonistic behaviors outlined in part (A), dominant and subordinate subjects in the VBS also spend differing amounts of time on the surface/in the tunnel system
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Schematics of experiment setup for resource competition assays. (A) Tube test. (B) Scent‐marking. (C) Standard chow/water competition. (D) Palatable food competition. (E) 70‐mHz ultrasonic vocalizations. (F) Warm spot test. (G) Shock avoidance
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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