Isolation calls in house mouse pups: Individual consistency across time and situations

Verjat, Aurélie; Rödel, Heiko G.; Féron, Christophe

doi:10.1002/dev.21884

Cited by 9 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…Exposing isolated mouse or rat pups to familiar nest scents significantly decreases vocalization rates, similar to contact quieting (Oswalt and Meier 1975;Geyer 1981;Verjat et al 2019;reviewed in Shair 2007). In contrast, exposing pups to predator odor has been found to either increase (Verjat et al 2019) or have no effect on calling rates (Wiedenmayer and Barr 1998).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 77%

Specificity of California mouse pup vocalizations in response to olfactory cues

Wilson

Wagner

Saltzman

2021

Preprint

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In rodents, young pups communicate with their parents through harmonic calls and ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs). These forms of communication can improve chances of survival, since pups rely on their parents for thermoregulation, nutrition and protection. The extent to which pups modulate calls in response to their surroundings remains unclear. In this study we examined whether olfactory stimuli influence characteristics of pup calls, and how these calls may be affected by pup sex and litter size, in the California mouse (Peromyscus californicus). Pups were isolated and audio recorded during an initial, 3-minute control period, after which they were exposed for 5 minutes to bedding containing one of 4 olfactory cues: scent from their home cage, scent from the home cage of an unfamiliar family, coyote urine, or no scent. Latency to call, call rate, call duration and call characteristics (e.g. frequency and amplitude) were compared between the control period and olfactory-exposure period as well as among olfactory conditions. Pups from 2-pup litters called more quietly (lower amplitude) when exposed to odor from a predator while pups from 3-pup litters called louder (higher amplitude). Additionally, pups tended to reduce their call rates in response to odors from their home cage, consistent with contact quieting. However, pups tended to increase their rate of calling when exposed to predator urine, in contrast to the expectations of predator-induced vocal suppression. Lastly, male pups produced higher-frequency calls and more USVs than females. These results indicate that a number of pup call characteristics in this species can be influenced by acute olfactory stimuli as well as factors such as litter size and sex. The value of these pup call variations for offspring-parent communication is unclear: whether they elicit different parental responses is unknown and would be an interesting/valuable/informative avenue for future studies.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 77%

Specificity of California mouse pup vocalizations in response to olfactory cues

Wilson

Wagner

Saltzman

2021

Preprint

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“…The number of audio recordings per age and per sex were as follows: control (P6 [female, n = 9; male, n = 7], P8 [female, n = 14; male, n = 9], P10 [female, n = 10; male, n = 13], and P12 [female, n = 15; male, n = 15]) and Magel2 m+/p− (P6 [female, n = 10; male, n = 10], P8 [female, n = 15; male, n = 13], P10 [female, n = 11; male, n = 9], and P12 [female, n = 16; male, n = 12)]. Because pups that were naïve for the test—only tested at one specific age—show similar results as pups tested at multiple ages (Figure S3, similar to previous findings 43,44 ), we pooled all mice together for our analysis.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Pups from the same litter were placed individually in a soundproof chamber containing fresh bedding material. 23,39 An UltraSoundGate Condenser Microphone CM 16 (Avisoft Bioacoustics, Berlin, Germany) was placed 10 cm above the recording chamber and con- S3, similar to previous findings 43,44 ), we pooled all mice together for our analysis.…”

Section: Separation-induced Vocalizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Deficiency of the paternally inherited gene Magel2 alters the development of separation‐induced vocalization and maternal behavior in mice

Ortiz

Santana

Dietrich

2021

Genes Brain and Behavior

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The behavior of offspring results from the combined expression of maternal and paternal genes. Genomic imprinting silences some genes in a parent-of-origin specific manner, a process that, among all animals, occurs only in mammals. How genomic imprinting affects the behavior of mammalian offspring, however, remains poorly understood. Here, we studied how the loss of the paternally inherited gene Magel2 in mouse pups affects the emission of separation-induced ultrasonic vocalizations (USV). Using quantitative analysis of more than 1000 USVs, we characterized the rate of vocalizations as well as their spectral features from postnatal days 6-12 (P6-P12), a critical phase of mouse development that covers the peak of vocal behavior in pups. Our analyses show that Magel2 deficient offspring emit separation-induced vocalizations at lower rates and with altered spectral features mainly at P8. We also show that dams display altered behavior towards their own Magel2 deficient offspring at this age. In a test to compare the retrieval of two pups, dams retrieve wildtype control pups first and faster than Magel2 deficient offspring. These results suggest that the loss of Magel2 impairs the expression of separation-induced vocalization in pups as well as maternal behavior at a specific age of postnatal development, both of which support the pups' growth and development.

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“…Because pups that were naïve for the test-only tested at one specific age-show similar results as pups tested at multiple ages, we pooled all mice together for our analysis. Moreover, literature in the field have reported that repeated isolation testing does not affect infant vocal behavior 29,30 . Details of individual behavior measurements are found in Table S1.…”

Section: Behavior Testmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Towards this end, we studied how the loss of paternally inherited Magel2 affects the vocal behavior of mouse pups when separated from their dams [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] , as separation-induced vocalizations signal the needs of the pups to the dams 19,[24][25][26][27][28][29] . In contrast to human babies, mouse pups vocalize in the ultrasonic frequency range (45 -120 kHz) 20,21,23,30 , which humans cannot hear. In order to survey the vocal behavior of mice, we recorded the emission of ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) when pups were separated from the home nest.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Deficiency of the paternally inherited geneMagel2alters the development of separation-induced vocalization and maternal behavior in mice

Ortiz

Santana

Dietrich

2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Offspring behavior results from the combined expression of maternal and paternal genes. Genomic imprinting, however, silences some genes in a parent-of-origin specific manner, a process that, among all animals, occurs only in mammals. How genomic imprinting affects the behavior of mammalian offspring remains poorly understood. Here we studied the effects of the loss of the paternally inherited gene Magel2 on the emission of separation-induced ultrasonic vocalization (USV) by mouse pups. Using quantitative analysis of more than one hundred thousand USVs, we characterized the rate of vocalizations as well as their spectral features from postnatal days 6 to 12 (P6-P12), a critical phase during mouse development when pups fully depend on the mother for survival. Our analyses show that Magel2 deficient offspring emit separation-induced vocalizations at lower rates and with altered spectral features. Using methods for a holistic analysis of the entire vocal repertoire of pups, we found that Magel2 deficient mice at postnatal day 8 (P8) emit USVs that resemble the vocal repertoire of wildtype mice at older ages (P10-12). These results suggest that the deficiency of this paternally inherited gene impairs the expression of separation-induced vocalization in pups, a behavior that supports pup growth and development.

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Isolation calls in house mouse pups: Individual consistency across time and situations

Cited by 9 publications

References 46 publications

Specificity of California mouse pup vocalizations in response to olfactory cues

Specificity of California mouse pup vocalizations in response to olfactory cues

Deficiency of the paternally inherited gene Magel2 alters the development of separation‐induced vocalization and maternal behavior in mice

Deficiency of the paternally inherited geneMagel2alters the development of separation-induced vocalization and maternal behavior in mice

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