BAMBI: A new method for automated assessment of bidirectional early-life interaction between maternal behavior and pup vocalization in mouse dam-pup dyads

Carmen Winters; Wim Gorssen; Markus Wöhr; Rudi D'Hooge

doi:10.3389/fnbeh.2023.1139254

BAMBI: A new method for automated assessment of bidirectional early-life interaction between maternal behavior and pup vocalization in mouse dam-pup dyads

Front Behav Neurosci. 2023 Mar 3:17:1139254. doi: 10.3389/fnbeh.2023.1139254. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Carmen Winters^{1

2}, Wim Gorssen³, Markus Wöhr^{1

2

4

5

6}, Rudi D'Hooge^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Biological Psychology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
² Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
³ Department of Biosystems, Center for Animal Breeding and Genetics, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
⁴ Social and Affective Neuroscience Research Group, Laboratory of Biological Psychology, Research Unit Brain and Cognition, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
⁵ Behavioral Neuroscience, Experimental and Biological Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Philipps-University Marburg, Marburg, Germany.
⁶ Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior, Philipps-University Marburg, Marburg, Germany.

Abstract

Vital early-life dyadic interaction in mice requires a pup to signal its needs adequately, and a dam to recognize and respond to the pup's cues accurately and timely. Previous research might have missed important biological and/or environmental elements of this complex bidirectional interaction, because it often focused on one dyadic member only. In laboratory rodents, the Pup Retrieval Test (PRT) is the leading procedure to assess pup-directed maternal care. The present study describes BAMBI (Bidirectional Automated Mother-pup Behavioral Interaction test), a novel automated PRT methodology based on synchronous video recording of maternal behavior and audio recording of pup vocalizations, which allows to assess bidirectional dam-pup dyadic interaction. We were able to estimate pup retrieval and pup vocalization parameters accurately in 156 pups from 29 dams on postnatal days (PND) 5, 7, 9, 11, and 13. Moreover, we showed an association between number of emitted USVs and retrieval success, indicating dyadic interdependency and bidirectionality. BAMBI is a promising new automated home-cage behavioral method that can be applied to both basic and preclinical studies investigating complex phenotypes related to early-life social development.

Keywords: automation; behavior; communication; early-life; mouse; pup retrieval; ultrasonic vocalizations.

Grants and funding

This study was funded by an SB Ph.D. fellowship (1S05818N) of the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) to CW. WG was funded by an FR Ph.D. fellowship (1104320N) of the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO). The funding bodies played no role in the design of the study and collection, analysis, and interpretation of data and in writing the manuscript.