Huddling substates in mice facilitate dynamic changes in body temperature and are modulated by Shank3b and Trpm8 mutation.

ABSTRACT: Social thermoregulation is a means of maintaining homeostatic body temperature. While adult mice are a model organism for studying both social behavior and energy regulation, the relationship between huddling and core body temperature (Tb) is poorly understood. Here, we develop a behavioral paradigm and computational tools to identify active-huddling and quiescent-huddling as distinct thermal substates. We find that huddling is an effective thermoregulatory strategy in female but not male groups. At 23 °C (room temperature), but not 30 °C (near thermoneutrality), huddling facilitates large reductions in Tb and Tb-variance. Notably, active-huddling is associated with bidirectional changes in Tb, depending on its proximity to bouts of quiescent-huddling. Further, group-housed animals lacking

SUBMITTER: Landen JG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11415358 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature