Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Social Aggression And Stress-Related Phenotype Formation In The Stress Alternatives Model, Tayler L. Modlin

Honors Thesis

Stress is a universal reaction. Short-term stress can be viewed as positive, as it can promote survival and encourage positive behaviors; whereas chronic stress that is unpredictable can lead to health defects and emotional pathologies. The Stress Alternatives Model (SAM) was created with the purpose of testing decision-making during socially stressful situations. Over the course of a four-day experiment, test mice are exposed to periods of social stress caused by bites inflicted onto them by a larger aggressive mouse. As a response to these attacks, test mice exhibit an array of behaviors and ultimately develop one of two adaptive phenotypes: …