Three-Chamber Social Test: Principles & Protocol
The Three-Chamber Social Test assesses social preference and social novelty. Built on rodents’ sociality and novelty seeking, animals freely explore three connected chambers with stranger mice (or objects); dwell and interaction times index social motivation, recognition, and novelty preference.
It is widely applied to social circuit research, ASD and other neurodevelopmental models, schizophrenia-related social deficits, prefrontal/amygdala function, and drugs that enhance or restore social behavior.
Quantify path, path ratio, dwell time, time ratio, speed, and entries for left/right/center chambers, plus interaction time with empty cage, Stranger 1, and Stranger 2—from trajectories to preference indices.
Built-in SCI formulas: sociability = (Stranger 1 − empty) / total exploration; social novelty = (Stranger 2 − Stranger 1) / total exploration—no manual spreadsheet logic.
Real-time tracking progress, automatic kinematics, heatmaps/bar charts, and multi-format export for comparison and publication.
| Parameter | Description | Unit |
|---|---|---|
| sample_name | Sample name | — |
| group_label | Group label | — |
| total_distance | Total distance | cm |
| average_speed | Average speed | cm/s |
| xxx_distance | Distance in a region | cm |
| xxx_distance_ratio | Region distance ratio | % |
| xxx_average_speed | Average speed in a region | cm/s |
| xxx_time | Time in a region | s |
| xxx_time_ratio | Region time ratio | % |
| xxx_number_of_entries | Entries into a region | count |
| outside_distance | Distance outside regions | cm |
| outside_distance_ratio | Outside distance ratio | % |
| outside_time | Time outside regions | s |
| outside_time_ratio | Outside time ratio | % |
| Parameter | Description | Meaning | Unit |
|---|---|---|---|
| preference_index | Sociability (preference) index | (Time exploring Stranger 1 − time exploring empty cage) / total exploration time | % |
| social_novelty_index | Social novelty index | (Time exploring Stranger 2 − time exploring Stranger 1) / total exploration time | % |