| Abstract |
Social thermoregulation is a means of maintaining homeostatic body temperature. While adult mice are a model organism for studying both social behavior and energy regulation, the relationship between huddling and core body temperature (Tb) is poorly understood. Here, we develop a behavioral paradigm and computational tools to identify active-huddling and quiescent-huddling as distinct thermal substates. We find that huddling is an effective thermoregulatory strategy in female but not male groups. At 23 °C (room temperature), but not 30 °C (near thermoneutrality), huddling facilitates large reductions in Tb and Tb-variance. Notably, active-huddling is associated with bidirectional changes in Tb, depending on its proximity to bouts of quiescent-huddling. Further, group-housed animals lacking the synaptic scaffolding gene Shank3b have hyperthermic Tb and spend less time huddling. In contrast, individuals lacking the cold-sensing gene Trpm8 have hypothermic Tb - a deficit that is rescued by increased huddling time. These results reveal how huddling behavior facilitates acute adjustments of Tb in a state-dependent manner. |
| Authors |
Jason G. Landen  , Morgane Vandendoren  , Samantha Killmer , Nicole L. Bedford , Adam Nelson
|
| Journal Info |
Nature Portfolio | Communications Biology , vol: 7
, iss: 1
|
| Publication Date |
9/20/2024 |
| ISSN |
2399-3642 |
Type |
article |
| Open Access |
gold
|
| DOI |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-024-06781-7 |
| Keywords |
Core temperature (Score: 0.53894126)
|
