Mapping social behavior-induced brain activation at cellular resolution in the mouse.

Understanding how brain activation mediates behaviors is a central goal of systems neuroscience. Here, we apply an automated method for mapping brain activation in the mouse in order to probe how sex-specific social behaviors are represented in the male brain. Our method uses the immediate-early-gene c-fos, a marker of neuronal activation, visualized by serial two-photon tomography: the c-fos-GFP+ neurons are computationally detected, their distribution is registered to a reference brain and a brain atlas, and their numbers are analyzed by statistical tests.

Social facial touch in rats.

We know much about how rats use their whiskers to discriminate simple tactile properties, but little about how they are used in natural settings. Here we studied whisker motion during social interactions between rats in order to gain a better understanding of natural whisker use in this model system for sensorimotor integration. In the first set of experiments, an intruder was placed in a second rat's home cage.

The neurobiology of Etruscan shrew active touch.

The Etruscan shrew, Suncus etruscus, is not only the smallest terrestrial mammal, but also one of the fastest and most tactile hunters described to date. The shrew's skeletal muscle consists entirely of fast-twitch types and lacks slow fibres. Etruscan shrews detect, overwhelm, and kill insect prey in large numbers in darkness.