The influence of the social thermoregulation on the cold-adaptive growth of BAT in hairless and furred mice.

When mice were living in groups they developed less brown adipose tissue (BAT) during cold adaptation as compared with single mice. This effect of social aggregation was more pronounced in genetically hairless mice than in furred mice. In both races of mice the most significant difference in BAT growth was found between single mice and pairs of mice, indicating that the formation of pairs causes the relatively most effective improvement of thermal balance.