Summary: Researchers have identified the activity of a genetic network that responds to social stress in mice.

Source: University of Illinois.

Researchers at the University of Illinois are uncovering the genomic mechanisms that underlie social behavior in mice, some of which may be shared widely across animal species

Mice have a reputation for timidity. Yet when confronted with an unfamiliar peer, a mouse may respond by rearing, chasing, grappling, and biting–and come away with altered sensitivity toward future potential threats.

What changes in the brain of an animal when its behavior is altered by experience? Research at the University of Illinois led by Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology Lisa Stubbs is working toward an answer to this question by focusing on the collective actions of genes. In a recent Genome Research publication, Stubbs and her colleagues identified and documented the activity of networks of genes involved in the response…