What is the Sociability Apparatus?

The three-chambered Sociability Apparatus is the standard paradigm for measuring sociability and social novelty recognition in rodents. In the sociability phase, the test animal chooses between a chamber containing a stranger conspecific in a wire cup and an empty chamber — a preference for the occupied chamber indicates normal sociability. In the social novelty phase, a second stranger is introduced to the previously empty chamber; preference for the new stranger over the now-familiar first animal measures social memory. This two-phase design provides independent measures of sociability and social recognition memory in the same 20-minute session, making it the most widely used social behavior assay in autism spectrum disorder and schizophrenia research.

Key Features

• Three-Chamber Design: A central chamber with two flanking compartments separated by removable partitions allows the experimenter to control the introduction of social stimuli with precision, and to define three independent scoring zones for video tracking.
• Grid-Bar Enclosures: The wire cup/grid enclosures holding stimulus animals maximize olfactory, visual, and tactile contact between test and stimulus animals through bars, while preventing direct combat or escape — providing the most naturalistic social interaction consistent with experimental control.
• Transparent or Opaque Walls: Transparent wall options allow camera-based tracking without lighting complications; opaque white walls can be selected when external visual distractors need to be excluded.
• Cabled Animal Compatibility: Versions Cat. 46502-IR-D03 and Cat. 46503-IR-D03 include infrared-transparent floors and cable routing for fiber photometry and EEG recording during social interaction.
• Mouse and Rat Versions: Cat. 46503 (mouse: 62 × 40 × 25 cm) and Cat. 46553 (rat: 120 × 40 × 40 cm) provide species-appropriate chamber volumes and grid cup sizes (7 cm diameter mouse; 15 cm diameter rat).