Social Interaction Protocol

Social Interaction Protocol Nikki Tomm Updated 03.28.14

Setting up: 1. Set up the camera on the tripod, tilt it so it is facing straight down perpendicular to the floor, and tape it into position. Both the camera and the tripod can be found in room 736. 2. Use three large clear plastic boxes from room 736 and line them up right next to each other directly under the camera. They should be as close to the tripod as possible so when you look through the camera you can see all the edges of each box. Once the boxes and camera angle are set, do not move the camera or the boxes throughout the remainder of the session. Adjusting the camera or the boxes will make analyzing the behavior very time consuming. If the camera shifts a little or if you accidentally move a box, you can adjust these things between runs, but try to avoid having to do this. NEVER move the camera in the middle of a run. 3. Set up two wire cups with sytrofoam tops in each box diagonally from each other. The positioning of the cups should be identical between boxes. The cups should be in the corners of the boxes but far enough away from the edges that they are not blocking the camera’s view of the corner. This cup positioning is essential because we want to be able to see the subject when he walks behind the cup. These cups can be found in room 741 in a drawer that is labeled social interaction containers. It is located next to the mini-fridge. 4. Wipe out all of the boxes and the insides and outsides of the wire cups with a Saniwipe. 5. In addition to the experimental subjetcs, you will need two cages of young, non- experimental sunjects. The subjects in one cage will be the control subjects and the subjects in the other cage will be the novel subjects.

Run A: 1. Remove the experimental subjects from their home cages and line them up in the empty individual cages in the order they will go into the social interaction boxes (1-3). You will have a list that tells you which box to put which subject in. You can decide which box is box 1 and which is box 3, but you must be consistent and you must write this down so that you know which subject is which when you analyze the behavior. 2. Place a control subject in a wire cup in each box. The control subjects should all be on the same side of their respective boxes for every run. You can decide which side of the box the control subjects will be on, but you must be consistent and you must write this down so that you know which cups contain control subjects and which contain novel subjects. Place the cups back in their respective boxes with the control subjects inside. Try to place the cups in the same spot every time to make analyzing the behavior more efficient. 3. Push record on the camera. 4. Place a notepad with the run number printed clearly on it in front of the camera. For example: Run 1A.

1 5. Place the experimental subjects in the center of the boxes. 6. Set the timer for 5 minutes of behavior. 7. Do NOT walk around in the background. You will create shadows, which will make the behavior very difficult to analyze. 8. When the timer beeps, push stop on the camera. Reset the time for 3 minutes of rest. 9. Remove the experimental subjects and place them back into the individual cages in the same order they were in during the social interaction. 10. Wipe out the boxes with Saniwipes, making sure to remove all feces and urine.

Run B: 1. When you have approximately 30 seconds left of rest, place a novel subject into the wire cup in each box that is diagonally across from the other cup that already contains the control subject. 2. When the timer beeps, push record on the camera 3. Place a notepad with the run number printed clearly on it in front of the camera. For example: Run 1B 4. Place the experimental subjects from Run A in the center of the boxes. 5. Set the timer for 5 minutes of behavior. 6. Do NOT walk around in the background. 7. When the timer beeps, push stop on the camera. 8. Remove the experimental subjects and place them back into their home cage. 9. Remove the control subjects and put them back into their home cage. Remove the novel subjects and put them back into their home cage. 10. Wipe out the social interaction boxes and wipe out the insides and outsides of all the wire cups. 11. Line up the subjects for the next run in the empty individual cages in the order they will go into the social interaction boxes. Repeat steps 2-10 under Run A and steps 1-11 under Run B for each set of subjects until you have completed all of your runs.aaAZ

Cleaning up: 1. Wipe out all of the social interaction boxes and wire cups and return them to their drawers in rooms 736 and 741, respectively. 2. Remove the camera from the tripod and fold up the tripod and bring them back to room 736. 3. Plug the camera into a computer and save the video files on the computer for analysis.