Simultaneous analysis of social behaviors and neural responses in mice using round social arena system

Stable and accurate capturing of detailed social behaviors is essential for studying rodent sociability. Here, we introduce a round social arena (RSA) system that enables close-up monitoring of detailed social behaviors in mice. We describe the steps to build RSA apparatus and set up the wiring for video synchronization. We then detail how to conduct RSA experiment with simultaneous Ca²⁺ imaging or optogenetics. This protocol also includes a custom MATLAB script for aligning the behavioral dataset to Ca²⁺ trace data. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Kim et al. (2022).