The study of social interactions lies at the core of several disciplines such as psychiatry, psychology and ethology, just to name a few. In this context, understanding the temporal patterns underlying interactive behaviors is of crucial importance. Here, we employed T-pattern detection and analysis to study social interactions in ten pairs of Wistar rats tested in an Open-Field environment. We found four different categories of interactive behaviors. One of them was of particular interest to us because it consisted of behavioral events that, taken individually, should not underlie an interaction of any kind; however, they were included in T-patterns, which is suggestive of a dyadic temporal coordination in the behavioral expression of two individuals. Within this category, we described for the first time a new subcategory of apparent interaction patterns characterized by events that one of the two rats repeats only if previously produced by the partner (i.e., behavioral mirroring). These findings are discussed in functional terms for rodents and in light of our current understanding of social interactions in humans.

Casarrubea, M., Leca, J., Gunst, N., Aiello, S., Crescimanno, G. (2024). Behavioral mirroring in Wistar rats investigated through temporal pattern analysis. SCIENTIFIC REPORTS, 14(1) [10.1038/s41598-024-71428-w].

Behavioral mirroring in Wistar rats investigated through temporal pattern analysis

Casarrubea, Maurizio
Primo
Writing – Original Draft Preparation
;
Aiello, Stefania
Membro del Collaboration Group
;
Crescimanno, Giuseppe
Ultimo
Membro del Collaboration Group
2024-09-06

Abstract

The study of social interactions lies at the core of several disciplines such as psychiatry, psychology and ethology, just to name a few. In this context, understanding the temporal patterns underlying interactive behaviors is of crucial importance. Here, we employed T-pattern detection and analysis to study social interactions in ten pairs of Wistar rats tested in an Open-Field environment. We found four different categories of interactive behaviors. One of them was of particular interest to us because it consisted of behavioral events that, taken individually, should not underlie an interaction of any kind; however, they were included in T-patterns, which is suggestive of a dyadic temporal coordination in the behavioral expression of two individuals. Within this category, we described for the first time a new subcategory of apparent interaction patterns characterized by events that one of the two rats repeats only if previously produced by the partner (i.e., behavioral mirroring). These findings are discussed in functional terms for rodents and in light of our current understanding of social interactions in humans.
6-set-2024
Casarrubea, M., Leca, J., Gunst, N., Aiello, S., Crescimanno, G. (2024). Behavioral mirroring in Wistar rats investigated through temporal pattern analysis. SCIENTIFIC REPORTS, 14(1) [10.1038/s41598-024-71428-w].
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10447/653313
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