Evidence map›Paper›PMID 28328884›Full record

ArticleLab animal2017

Aggression in group-housed laboratory mice: why can't we solve the problem?

Elin M Weber, Jamie Ahloy Dallaire, Brianna N Gaskill, Kathleen R Pritchett-Corning, Joseph P Garner

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Lab animal, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 60 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
60citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
10.6field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

60 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 101 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Social Housing of Postoperative Animals to Support Animal Welfare.Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science : JAALAS · 2026
    Review
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Review
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Stress, associative learning, and decision-making.Neurobiology of learning and memory · 2023
    Review
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Elin M WeberStanford University, Department of Comparative Medicine, Stanford, California, USA.
Jamie Ahloy DallaireStanford University, Department of Comparative Medicine, Stanford, California, USA.
Brianna N GaskillPurdue University, Animal Science Department, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA.
Kathleen R Pritchett-CorningHarvard University Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Office of Animal Resources, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
Joseph P GarnerStanford University, Department of Comparative Medicine, Stanford, California, USA.
Stanford University · USMSPCA-Angell · USPurdue University West Lafayette · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Group housing is highly important for social animals. However, it can also give rise to aggression, one of the most serious welfare concerns in laboratory mouse husbandry. Severe fighting can lead to pain, injury and even death. In addition, working with animals that are severely socially stressed, wounded or singly-housed as a result of aggression may compromise scientific validity. Some general recommendations on how to minimize aggression exist, but the problem persists. Thus far, studies attempting to find solutions have mainly focused on social dominance and territorial behavior, but many other aspects of routine housing and husbandry that might influence aggressive behavior have been overlooked. The present way of housing laboratory mice is highly unnatural: mice are prevented from performing many species-typical behaviors and are routinely subjected to painful and aversive stimuli. Giving animals control over their environment is an important aspect of improving animal welfare and has been well-studied in the field of animal welfare science. How control over the environment influences aggression in laboratory mice, however, has not been closely examined. In this article, we challenge current ways of thinking and propose alternative perspectives that we hope will lead to an enhanced understanding of aggression in laboratory mice.

Indexed as

AggressionBehavior, AnimalHousing, AnimalAnimal HusbandryAnimalsAnimal WelfareFemaleMaleMiceSocial Behavior

Identifiers

PMID28328884
OpenAlexW2601200462

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.