Attractivity and social preferences in mice (Mus musculus domesticus):: The role of prepubertal sexual segregation and of precocious weaning

Mice (Mus musculus domesticus) were raised (Postnatal Day 15 to 25) in single- or mixed-sex litters and precociously (Day 15) or regularly (Day 25) weaned. When they were faced as adults with a basic social choice-between two stimulus mice raised in litters of different sex composition but both of the same sex as the chooser-mice raised in mixed-sex litters were preferred. In the sociosexual choice-between a male and a female, both from the single- or the mixed-sex group-the opposite-sex preference was expressed. Both these preferences were abolished by the sexual segregation of the choosers. This variable hardly affected potential mate choice-between two stimulus mice both of the opposite sex of the chooser but raised in litters of different sex composition. Data indicate that socially mediated behavioral plasticity has a major role in the early shaping of adult individual differences both in attractive stimulus properties and in sociosexual preferences.