Duke engineers develop 3D tool for animal social behavior

Biomedical engineers at Duke University have created a new 3D imaging tool called social-DANNCE, or s-DANNCE. This tool helps study the social behavior of animals, particularly rats, by measuring their movements and interactions in detail. It can recognize hundreds of different social behaviors, like grooming and chasing. The researchers originally developed a method in 2021 called DANNCE. It used machine learning to track the body movements of rats using video recordings. This new version, s-DANNCE, can analyze how rats behave in social settings with others, allowing scientists to understand the impact of different conditions, including genetic forms of autism. Using the s-DANNCE tool, the team found that drugs like amphetamine change not only how active the rats are but also how they interact socially. They also discovered how different autism models affect social behaviors and physical contact among the animals. The Duke University team has made the s-DANNCE platform and a database of over 150 million analyzed behavioral samples available for other researchers. Timothy Dunn, the assistant professor leading the project, hopes this technology will help link social behavior to brain functions and neuropsychiatric disorders.