Social learning task in rats

Heinrich Heine University

At the Heinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf, Germany, PI Dr. Marijn van Wingerden and his PhD student Sander van Gurp study social learning behavior in rats. Their Social Rodent Lab uses EthoVision XT and UltraVox XT for their behavioral studies.

Dr. M. van Wingerden: "It would be really beneficial to have an adequate animal model that captures this social behavior."

The team, in there Social Rodent Lab, is trying to figure out whether something good happening to the partner rat, will affect learning processes in the observer rat. In other words, they are trying to figure out whether the rats can learn from each other. They hope to contribute to the development of potential interventions.

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"The combination of Noldus EthoVision for tracking the behavioral state and the position of the animal, in combination with Noldus UltraVox has allowed us to combine information positions, but also to keep track of the ultrasonic vocalizations that the animals are emitting. Now USVs are an important marker of the affective state of the animal."

Dr. M. van Wingerden

Heinrich Heine University, Germany