?
Методы определения социальных рангов животных в малых группах
Here, we present the technique to determine the social rank in rats based on the quanti- tative analysis of sociometric matrices built using the data on the antagonistic relation- ships between the animals during competition for reward. We compare and evaluate the existing techniques and propose a new experimental model of the dominant behavior as- sessment in small groups of rats in laboratory conditions that considers the individual drinking activity of each rat, as well as the dyadic competitive relationships. The data analysis is based on the histograms of the drinking duration for rats, the ratio of the vic- tories and losses in dyads during the competition for access to drinking bowl, and the evaluation of the motivation to satisfy the thirst during the periods of experimental ses- sions. The approbation of the developed technique has demonstrated that the imple- mentation of these approaches allows for accurate determination of the social rank of each rat, as well as for monitoring of the dynamics of the formation, stability, and plas- ticity of social organization in the groups throughout the whole period of their existence. Therefore, this complex technique may help to determine the relationships between the hierarchical structure of the groups of social animals, their individual social rank, and various physiological, pharmacological, environmental, and other factors.