Reading marmoset behavior ‘semantics’ under particular social context by multi-parameters correlation analysis

Social interactions are a fundamental aspect of human and animal behavior. Although neuroimaging and other non-invasive methods have progressed recently, the neurobiology of social behavior requires the use of animal models. Here, we introduced a multi-behavior parameter integration method and applied it to female–male interaction of adult common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus). Based on the correlated parameters and meeting context, we found that the behavioral endpoints clustered in four distinct categories, which could be interpreted as active, freeze, alert, and affinity emotional states. The relevance of this interpretation was supported as the female behavior category change positively correlated with serum cortisol and progesterone levels after social interaction. Thus, our multi-behavior parameter integration method may be useful to evaluate social emotionality in animal models, as well as to quantify social behavior in human psychiatric disorders.

Research highlights
► Principal component analysis can quantitatively characterize social behavior.
► Adult female marmosets discriminated human-reared and parent-reared males.
► Serum cortisol/progesterone levels correlated with the female behavior toward males.