Characterization of 50-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations in male and female rats

McGinnis, Marilyn Y.; Vakulenko, Marta

doi:10.1016/s0031-9384(03)00227-0

Cited by 109 publications

(104 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Also, during testing in an open field and an elevated plus maze 50-kHz calling was observed [43]. These findings are in line with observations of 50-kHz calls in various experimental controls, like naïve rats that were placed into a test arena containing fresh bedding [24,44], or saline-injected rats in drug studies [33][34][35]41]. Remarkably, the propensity to call differed dependent on the timepoint of the last social contact, i.e.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 87%

“…Conversely, high-frequency vocalizations, often termed 50-kHz calls, occur during or in anticipation of juvenile rough-and-tumble play [19,20], mating [21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28], food consumption [29], electrical self-stimulation of the brain [29,30], and addictive drugs [31][32][33][34][35]. Furthermore, rats also emit such calls when tickled by a skilled experimenter in a playful way [36][37][38][39][40], and rates of 50-kHz calls were found to be positively correlated with the rewarding value of tickle stimulation as measured by instrumental approach behavior [36,37,39].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Social Transmission of Avoidance Behavior Under Situational Change in Learned and Unlearned Rats

2016

Animal Behavior

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Rats emit distinct types of ultrasonic vocalizations, which differ depending on age, the subject's current state and environmental factors. Since it was shown that 50-kHz calls can serve as indices of the animal's positive subjective state, they have received increasing experimental attention, and have successfully been used to study neurobiological mechanisms of positive affect. However, it is likely that such calls do not only reflect a positive affective state, but that they also serve a communicative purpose. Actually, rats emit the highest rates of 50-kHz calls typically during social interactions, like reproductive behavior, juvenile play and tickling. Furthermore, it was recently shown that rats emit 50-kHz calls after separation from conspecifics. The aim of the present study was to test the communicative value of such 50-kHz calls. In a first experiment, conducted in juvenile rats situated singly on a radial maze apparatus, we showed that 50-kHz calls can induce behavioral activation and approach responses, which were selective to 50-kHz signals, since presentation of 22-kHz calls, considered to be aversive or threat signals, led to behavioral inhibition. In two other experiments, we used either natural 50-kHz calls, which had been previously recorded from other rats, or artificial sine wave stimuli, which were identical to these calls with respect to peak frequency, call length and temporal appearance. These signals were presented to either juvenile (Exp. 2) or adult (Exp. 3) male rats. Our data clearly show that 50-kHz signals can induce approach behavior, an effect, which was more pronounced in juvenile rats and which was not selective to natural calls, especially in adult rats. The recipient rats also emitted some 50-kHz calls in response to call presentation, but this effect was observed only in adult subjects. Together, our data show that 50-kHz calls can serve communicative purposes, namely as a social signal, which increases the likelihood of approach in the recipient conspecific.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 87%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social Transmission of Avoidance Behavior Under Situational Change in Learned and Unlearned Rats

2016

Animal Behavior

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“…So-called "50 kHz USVs", which actually range in frequency from 35 to 72 kHz, are emitted in conjunction with positive emotional states (Brudzynski, 2005;Knutson et al, 2002), including sexual behavior, rough and tumble play, "tickling", and the anticipation of play, food, or rewarding drugs Knutson et al, 1998;1999;McGinnis & Vakulenko, 2003;Panksepp & Burgdorf, 2000;Wintink & Brudzynski, 2001). Unlike 22 kHz USVs, 50 kHz USVs are usually associated with increased locomotor activity (Wöhr & Schwarting, 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Asymmetrical stimulus generalization following differential fear conditioning

Bang

Allen

Jones

et al. 2008

Neurobiology of Learning and Memory

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Rodent ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) are ethologically critical social signals. Rats emit 22 kHz USVs and 50 kHz USVs, respectively, in conjunction with negative and positive affective states. Little is known about what controls emotional reactivity to these social signals. Using male SpragueDawley rats, we examined unconditional and conditional freezing behavior in response to the following auditory stimuli: three 22 kHz USVs, a discontinuous tone whose frequency and on-off pattern matched one of the USVs, a continuous tone with the same or lower frequencies, a 4 kHz discontinuous tone with an on-off pattern matched to one of the USVs, and a 50 kHz USV. There were no differences among these stimuli in terms of the unconditional elicitation of freezing behavior. Thus, the stimuli were equally neutral before conditioning. During differential fear conditioning, one of these stimuli (the CS + ) always co-terminated with a footshock unconditional stimulus (US) and another stimulus (the CS − ) was explicitly unpaired with the US. There were no significant differences among these cues in CS + -elicited freezing behavior. Thus, the stimuli were equally salient or effective as cues in supporting fear conditioning. When the CS + was a 22 kHz USV or a similar stimulus, rats discriminated based on the principal frequency and/or the temporal pattern of the stimulus. However, when these same stimuli served as the CS − , discrimination failed due to generalization from the CS + . Thus, the stimuli differed markedly in the specificity of conditioning. This strikingly asymmetrical stimulus generalization is a novel bias in discrimination.

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“…The inferior colliculus is a part of the auditory system (Brozoski et al, 2007;Sun et al, 2007), and inferior collicular input to the nPGi may function to integrate auditory signals into sexual behavior output. Both male and female rats produce ultrasonic vocalizations during sexual behavior (McGinnis and Vakulenko, 2003), and detection of these signals has the potential to modulate sexual behavior in rodents (Floody and Lisk, 1987;Floody et al, 1998;McGinnis and Vakulenko, 2003). The relative difference between male and female rats in inferior collicular projections to the nPGi may indicate a difference in the importance of these ultrasonic vocalizations to the animals' behavioral output.…”

Section: Superior and Inferior Colliculusmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nucleus paragigantocellularis afferents in male and female rats: Organization, gonadal steroid receptor expression, and activation during sexual behavior

Normandin

Murphy

2008

J of Comparative Neurology

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The supraspinal regulation of genital reflexes is poorly understood. The brainstem nucleus paragigantocellularis (nPGi) of rats is a well-established source of tonic inhibition of genital reflexes. However, the organization, gonadal steroid receptor expression, and activity of nPGi afferents during sex have not been fully characterized in male and female rats. To delineate the anatomical and physiological organization of nPGi afferents, the retrograde tracer Fluoro-Gold (FG) was injected into the nPGi of sexually experienced male and female rats. Animals engaged in sexual behavior 1 hour before sacrifice. Cells containing FG, estrogen receptor-alpha (ER(alpha)), androgen receptor (AR), and the immediate-early gene product Fos were identified immunocytochemically. Retrograde labeling from the nPGi was prominent in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, paraventricular nucleus (PVN), posterior hypothalamus, precommissural nucleus, deep mesencephalic nucleus, and periaqueductal gray (PAG) of both sexes. Sex differences were observed in the caudal medial preoptic area (MPO), with significantly more FG+ cells observed in males, and in the PAG and inferior colliculus, where significantly more FG+ cells were observed in females. The majority of regions that contained FG+ cells also contained ER(alpha) or AR, indicating sensitivity to gonadal steroids. The proportions of FG+ cells that co-localized with sex-induced Fos was high in the PVN of both sexes and high in the MPO of males but low in the PAG of both sexes despite the large number of PAG-nPGi output neurons and Fos+ cells in both sexes. The characterization of these afferents will lead to a further understanding of the neural regulation of genital reflexes.

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Characterization of 50-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations in male and female rats

Cited by 109 publications

References 18 publications

Social Transmission of Avoidance Behavior Under Situational Change in Learned and Unlearned Rats

Social Transmission of Avoidance Behavior Under Situational Change in Learned and Unlearned Rats

Asymmetrical stimulus generalization following differential fear conditioning

Nucleus paragigantocellularis afferents in male and female rats: Organization, gonadal steroid receptor expression, and activation during sexual behavior

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