ArticleNature protocols2019
Using the tube test to measure social hierarchy in mice.
Article in Nature protocols, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 116 papers.
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Who cites it
116 citing papers in PubMed.
- Article
- Article
- Complex social dominance behavior using a novel platform test is associated with lateral habenula activation in male and female mice.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Article
- Social rank modulates empathic pain via Galntl6Molecular psychiatry · 2026Article
- Acute alcohol triggers rank-specific social ascent through a prefrontal-accumbens circuit in male mice.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Article
- Article
- Paradoxical role of the mesocorticolimbic Netrin1-DCC pathway in social competition and vulnerability to methamphetamine abuse during adolescence.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Article
- Astrocytes amplify cortical dopamine to encode winning memory in male mice.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Region-specific neural activity changes and hierarchical instability following social isolation.iScience · 2026Article
- Functional specialization of mPFC-BLA and mPFC-NAc pathways in affective state representation.eLife · 2026Article
- Neural basis of social hierarchy across species.Nature reviews. Neuroscience · 2026Review
- Serotonergic Modulation of Social Dominance via the Dorsal Raphe-Central Amygdala Circuit in Male Mice.Integrative zoology · 2026Article
- Individual differences in ethanol drinking meal structure are shaped by social environments.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Sh3rf3 Deficiency drives autism-like behaviors via presynaptic dysfunction in mice.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Article
- Glutamatergic projections from the substantia nigra pars reticulata to the dorsal raphe nucleus regulate male social hierarchies.PLoS biology · 2026Article
- The Training Village: an open platform for continuous testing of rodents in cognitive tasks.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Sex-Specific patterns of vulnerability to alcohol addiction-like behaviors in rats.Translational psychiatry · 2026Article
- Social rank and social environment combinedly affect REM sleep in mice.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Heparan sulfate endosulfatases, Sulf1 and Sulf2, are required for formation of the medial habenula-interpeduncular nucleus circuit.Frontiers in neuroanatomy · 2026Article
- Age-dependent effects of chronic traumatic and social isolation stress on mice social behavior.Neurobiology of stress · 2026Article
56 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Investigation of the neural mechanisms underlying social hierarchy requires a reliable and effective behavioral test. The tube test is a simple and robust behavioral assay that we recently validated as a reliable measure of social hierarchy in mice. The test was demonstrated to produce results largely consistent with the results seen when using other dominance measures, including the warm spot test, territory urine marking or the courtship ultrasound vocalization test. Here, we describe a step-by-step procedure to use the tube test to measure dominance within a cage of four male C57/BL6 mice as an example application. The procedure comprises three stages: habituation, training to pass through the tube, and the tube test itself. The social rank of each mouse is determined by the number of wins it gains when competing against the other three cagemates. A stable rank is derived when all mice maintain the same ranking for 4 consecutive days. The time required to acquire a stable rank usually varies from 4 to 14 d. An additional 5 d is required for habituation and training.
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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.