Behavior and behavioral aberrations are significant con­tributors to disease in the laboratory mouse.

Both opti­mal management of mouse populations and effective behavioral testing can be facilitated by knowledge of mouse behavior, including behavior of mice in their natural environment (reviewed in Brown et al.

2000; Bailey et al. 2006; Dixon 2004; Latham and Mason 2004; Van Loo et al. 2003). In-depth discussion of mouse behavior is beyond the scope of this text, but several issues need to be emphasized for the pathologist. Mice live in structured communal groups, known as demes, composed of a despotic dominant male, subordinant males, and a hierarchy of dominant to subordinant females. Mice will strive to achieve this social order when placed within the artificial confines of a cage environment. There are marked differences in behavior among mouse strains. B6, B10, C57L, and C57BR mice have high levels of open-field locomotion and low anxi­ety, compared to DBA/2, CBA, AKR, and LP mice, which are intermediate. DBA/1, BALB/c, and A/J mice exhibit low locomotor activity and high levels of emotional reactivity. Normal behavior patterns may be disrupted in specific strains of mice with retinal degeneration (C3H, FVB, SJL, and many outbred Swiss mice), late- onset deafness (B6 and BALB mice), hippocampal and corpus callosum defects (129 and BALB mice), hydro­cephalus (B6 mice), pituitary adenomas (FVB mice), seizures (DBA/2 and FVB mice), and numerous other anomalies.

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