Continued post-weaning social isolation is associated with persistent, sex-specific changes in sociability and social interaction dynamics in mice
- 1Center for Health Control, Nara Medical University, Kashihara, Nara, Japan.
- 2Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Nara Medical University, Kashihara, Nara, Japan.
- 3Department of Neuropsychiatry, Kumamoto University School of Medicine, Kumamoto, Kumamoto, Japan.
Abstract
Early social experience is critical for the maturation of social behavior, and its disruption during juvenile development may confer long-term psychiatric vulnerability. Juvenile social isolation (j-SI) after weaning is widely used as a model of early social deprivation; however, its developmental and sex-specific effects on spontaneous social interaction remain unclear. We examined the behavioral consequences of post-weaning social isolation in male and female C57BL/6J mice (Mus musculus). Mice were individually housed from postnatal day (P)21, and spontaneous social interaction was assessed longitudinally at P35, P49, and P63 during prolonged cage-based sessions using an augmented reality-based behavioral monitoring system. Locomotor activity, inter-mouse distance, mean contact duration per initiated encounter, and interaction dynamics were quantified during the light and dark phases. Juvenile social isolation was associated with greater inter-mouse distance across most developmental stages and sex-phase combinations, whereas reductions in mean contact duration per initiated encounter varied by sex, developmental stage, and light/dark phase. Locomotor activity varied by developmental stage and sex, with late-emerging increases particularly evident during the dark phase in isolated mice. In contrast, lower interaction-partner switching in isolated males was detected only at the earliest stage (P35) during the light phase. An important design feature is that isolated mice were reunited at testing with cage mates from which they had been separated for more than two weeks and were therefore effectively unfamiliar, whereas group-housed mice were tested with continuously familiar cage mates; the reported effects therefore reflect social isolation together with its intrinsic reduction in social familiarity. These findings indicate that continued post-weaning social isolation is associated with persistent, sex-specific alterations in sociability and social interaction dynamics. Our results further suggest that juvenile social experience may shape the developmental maturation and temporal organization of social interaction across adolescence and early adulthood.
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BibTeX
@article{yamamuro2026continued,
title = {{Continued post-weaning social isolation is associated with persistent, sex-specific changes in sociability and social interaction dynamics in mice}},
author = {Kazuhiko Yamamuro and Masato Takahashi and Mamiko Okuda and Kazuki Okumura and Natsuko Kashida and Takahiro Yoshihara and Tsutomu Takeda and Michihiro Toritsuka and Takahira Yamauchi and Manabu Makinodan},
journal = {PLOS One},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0361386},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0361386},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Continued post-weaning social isolation is associated with persistent, sex-specific changes in sociability and social interaction dynamics in mice
AU - Kazuhiko Yamamuro
AU - Masato Takahashi
AU - Mamiko Okuda
AU - Kazuki Okumura
AU - Natsuko Kashida
AU - Takahiro Yoshihara
AU - Tsutomu Takeda
AU - Michihiro Toritsuka
AU - Takahira Yamauchi
AU - Manabu Makinodan
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/26
JO - PLOS One
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0361386
UR - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0361386
AB - Early social experience is critical for the maturation of social behavior, and its disruption during juvenile development may confer long-term psychiatric vulnerability. Juvenile social isolation (j-SI) after weaning is widely used as a model of early social deprivation; however, its developmental and sex-specific effects on spontaneous social interaction remain unclear. We examined the behavioral consequences of post-weaning social isolation in male and female C57BL/6J mice (Mus musculus). Mice were individually housed from postnatal day (P)21, and spontaneous social interaction was assessed longitudinally at P35, P49, and P63 during prolonged cage-based sessions using an augmented reality-based behavioral monitoring system. Locomotor activity, inter-mouse distance, mean contact duration per initiated encounter, and interaction dynamics were quantified during the light and dark phases. Juvenile social isolation was associated with greater inter-mouse distance across most developmental stages and sex-phase combinations, whereas reductions in mean contact duration per initiated encounter varied by sex, developmental stage, and light/dark phase. Locomotor activity varied by developmental stage and sex, with late-emerging increases particularly evident during the dark phase in isolated mice. In contrast, lower interaction-partner switching in isolated males was detected only at the earliest stage (P35) during the light phase. An important design feature is that isolated mice were reunited at testing with cage mates from which they had been separated for more than two weeks and were therefore effectively unfamiliar, whereas group-housed mice were tested with continuously familiar cage mates; the reported effects therefore reflect social isolation together with its intrinsic reduction in social familiarity. These findings indicate that continued post-weaning social isolation is associated with persistent, sex-specific alterations in sociability and social interaction dynamics. Our results further suggest that juvenile social experience may shape the developmental maturation and temporal organization of social interaction across adolescence and early adulthood.
SN - 1932-6203
ER -