Characterization of rat ultrasonic vocalization in the orofacial formalin test: Influence of the social context

Barroso, Amanda Ribeiro; Araya, Erika Ivanna; Souza, Camila Pasquini de; Andreatini, Roberto; Chichorro, Juliana Geremias

doi:10.1016/j.euroneuro.2019.08.298

Cited by 11 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…This is in contrast to previous work showing that where vicarious stressors were followed by more allogrooming and licking behaviours towards the distressed cagemate Luo et al, 2020;Smith et al, 2021). Rats with past experience of being injected with bee venom displayed more of these behaviors that could be construed as consolation behaviours towards a distressed cagemate (Barroso et al, 2019;Luo et al, 2020). In addition, in experiments with male and female mice, female witness mice spent less time allogrooming than male witness (Du et al, 2020).…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

Vicarious Stress in Juvenile Rats

Ali¹

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Vicarious stress occurs when traumatic events are observed rather than being directly experienced. The outcomes of vicarious stress can result in a higher incidence of negative mental health outcomes that include post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety.Vicarious stress requires empathy to facilitate the understanding of other individuals' trauma and suffering, and this is influenced by factors such as familiarity and similar past experiences.To study vicarious stress in rats and mice, a rudimentary form of empathy called emotional contagion, enables these animals to mirror the emotional states of each other, particularly during distress. This requires one animal, the witness, to observe a conspecific endure stressors, from a place of safety.The study of vicarious stress in rats and mice during the juvenile period is sparce, though this critical period of development is vulnerable to stressors that can lead to long-term effects like increased anxiety-and depressive-like behaviours. This thesis furthers the preliminary investigation on how vicarious stress can be studied in juvenile animals and the long-term behavioural changes following these stressors. Considering this it is hypothesized that vicarious stress experienced during the juvenile period will elicit emotional contagion, leading to a sensitized HPA-axis and long-term deficits on exploratory and anxiety-like behaviours in adulthood. Two models of vicarious stress during the juvenile period were implemented, a novel model modified from an existing juvenile stressor model (Chapter 2), and observational fear-learning, an established model implemented in adult rodents (Chapter 3). In adulthood (Chapter 2) and in early adolescence (Chapter 3), the long-term behavioural impacts on iii exploration, social interactions and fear expression and the HPA-axis reactivity were determined. In Chapter 3, age differences between the juveniles and adults in male and female rats and the impact of past stressor experience in witnesses were explored.The findings revealed that vicarious stress does occur in juvenile rats, and it is not dependent on familiarity, yet it does require past stressor experiences for full behavioral display. Importantly, the extent of emotional contagion, confirmed by fear expression, is lower in male juveniles than it is in male adult rats. to Canada, you gave me and Shohan the freedom that we would not have had otherwise. Words cannot describe how I feel for you both. I dedicate this thesis to you.I am grateful to my supervisors Dr. Zul Merali and Dr. Alfonso Abizaid for taking a chance on me and being patient. The opportunities that being in your labs gave me not only provided me a solid foundation for research but lifelong friends. Thank you, Zul, for responding to an email from a shy undergrad who needed a CO-OP placement. Working in your lab sparked my love for behavioural research and led me to this final stage. Thank you for being open to my ideas and creativity. I am forever grateful to Alfie for believing in me, giving me en...

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

Vicarious Stress in Juvenile Rats

Ali¹

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“…It should also be also emphasized that ultrasonic 22 kHz vocalizations do not directly signal pain itself [ 320 , 321 , 322 ]. Although the emission of 22 kHz vocalizations was increased during chronic pain (chronic polyarthritis or repeated electrical stimuli) as compared to healthy rats and these calls were suggested to serve as evaluation of analgesic drugs [ 323 , 324 ], 22 kHz vocalizations express an affective component (anxiety) of ongoing or repeated painful experiences, not pain itself, and these calls were sensitive to morphine [ 321 , 325 , 326 , 327 , 328 ].…”

Section: Vocalization As Expression Of Emotional Arousalmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Pain stimuli can even inhibit ultrasonic calling, which led in the past to a very confusing interpretation [ 328 ]. In a recent study, it was shown that the emotional response to acute pain (single injection of formalin that, however, caused long lasting pain), with the emission of vocalization presented by the demonstrator rat, showed contagion to cage mates but not to non-cage mates, or to cage mates separated by a visual barrier [ 322 ]. Thus, the familiarity among rats and visual contact both contribute to emotional contagion conveyed by vocal expression of anxiety caused by lasting painful experiences.…”

Section: Vocalization As Expression Of Emotional Arousalmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biological Functions of Rat Ultrasonic Vocalizations, Arousal Mechanisms, and Call Initiation

Brudzyński

2021

Brain Sciences

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This review summarizes all reported and suspected functions of ultrasonic vocalizations in infant and adult rats. The review leads to the conclusion that all types of ultrasonic vocalizations subserving all functions are vocal expressions of emotional arousal initiated by the activity of the reticular core of the brainstem. The emotional arousal is dichotomic in nature and is initiated by two opposite-in-function ascending reticular systems that are separate from the cognitive reticular activating system. The mesolimbic cholinergic system initiates the aversive state of anxiety with concomitant emission of 22 kHz calls, while the mesolimbic dopaminergic system initiates the appetitive state of hedonia with concomitant emission of 50 kHz vocalizations. These two mutually exclusive arousal systems prepare the animal for two different behavioral outcomes. The transition from broadband infant isolation calls to the well-structured adult types of vocalizations is explained, and the social importance of adult rat vocal communication is emphasized. The association of 22 kHz and 50 kHz vocalizations with aversive and appetitive states, respectively, was utilized in numerous quantitatively measured preclinical models of physiological, psychological, neurological, neuropsychiatric, and neurodevelopmental investigations. The present review should help in understanding and the interpretation of these models in biomedical research.

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“…In social buffering, a fear-conditioned rat freezes less when smelling another rat, even unfamiliar [47], although slightly more when familiar [48]. In pain contagion, hyperalgesia is significant irrespective of familiarity for observers with [49] but not without prior experience of the specific injury [27,50,51]. Both female and male mice writhe more when paired with familiar rather than unfamiliar mice in pain [28] but for male mice, which often engage in fighting (Box 4), fight/flight responses close to unfamiliar males even suppress pain behavior compared with being alone [28,52,53].…”

Section: Emotionmentioning

confidence: 99%