We explored here the hypothesis that temporary chronic water restriction in mice affects social behavior, via its action on the density of 5-HT neurons in dorsal and median raphe nuclei (DRN and MRN). For that, we submitted adult C57BL/6 J mice to mild and controlled temporary dehydration, i.e., 6 h of water access every 48 h for 15 days. We investigated their social behavior in a social interaction task known to allow free and reciprocal social contact. Results showed that temporary dehydration increases significantly time spent in social contact and social dominance. It also expands 5-HT neuron density within both DRN and MRN and the behavioral and neuronal plasticity were positively correlated. Our findings suggest that disturbance in 5-HT neurotransmission caused by temporary dehydration stress unbalances choice processes of animals in social context.

我们在这里探讨了小鼠暂时慢性饮水限制通过其对背侧和中缝核（DRN 和 MRN）中 5-HT 神经元密度的作用影响社会行为的假设。为此，我们让成年 C57BL/6 J 小鼠接受轻度和受控的暂时脱水，即每 48 小时 6 小时饮水，持续 15 天。我们在一项已知允许自由和互惠的社交接触的社交互动任务中调查了他们的社交行为。结果表明，暂时性脱水显着增加了社交接触和社会支配地位的时间。它还扩大了 DRN 和 MRN 内的 5-HT 神经元密度，并且行为和神经元可塑性呈正相关。