Natural variations of adolescent neurogenesis and anxiety predict the hierarchical status of adult inbred mice.

ABSTRACT: Hierarchy provides a survival advantage to social animals in challenging circumstances. In mice, social dominance is associated with trait anxiety which is regulated by adult hippocampal neurogenesis. Here, we test whether adolescent hippocampal neurogenesis may regulate social dominance behavior in adulthood. We observe that adolescent individuals with higher trait anxiety and lower levels of hippocampal neurogenesis prior to the formation of a new group become dominants, suggesting that baseline adolescent neurogenesis predicts hierarchical status. This phenotype persists beyond social hierarchy stabilization. Experimentally reducing neurogenesis prior to the stabilization of social hierarchy in group-housed adolescent males increases the probability of mice to become dominant and increa

SUBMITTER: Grieco F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11933688 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature