Mouse and rat ultrasonic vocalizations in neuroscience and neuropharmacology: State of the art and future applications

Abstract

Mice and rats emit ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs), which may express their arousal and emotional states, to communicate with each other. There is continued scientific effort to better understand the functions of USVs as a central element of the rodent behavioral repertoire. However, studying USVs is not only important because of their ethological relevance, but also because they are widely applied as a behavioral readout in various fields of biomedical research. In mice and rats, a large number of experimental models of brain disorders exist and studying the emission of USVs in these models can provide valuable information about the health status of the animals and the effectiveness of possible interventions, both environmental and pharmacological. This review (i) provides an updated overview of the contexts in which ultrasonic

Simultaneous recording of ultrasonic vocalizations and sniffing from socially interacting individual rats using a miniature microphone

“…and Premoli et al. 16 , 17 ), the second obstacle remained. Although recent studies using multiple arena microphones assigned USVs to specific individuals separated by a barrier, 18 it remains almost impossible to distinguish and categorize USVs emitted by several individuals during free social interactions according to the emitter.…”

Characterization of Ultrasonic Vocalization-Modulated Neurons in Rat Motor Cortex Based on Their Activity Modulation and Axonal Projection to the Periaqueductal Gray

“…Laboratory rats and mice communicate with each other using ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs), which are inaudible to humans, in response to various social contexts and affective states ( Portfors, 2007 ). USVs have been widely used as experimental models to study neural mechanisms and deficits in social, emotional, and motor functions in mammals ( Konopka and Roberts, 2016 ; Han et al, 2019 ; Simola and Granon, 2019 ; Karigo, 2022 ; Premoli et al, 2023 ). Understanding the neural mechanisms that control USVs provides an important basis for facilitating such studies.…”

Divergent Acute and Enduring Changes in 50-kHz Ultrasonic Vocalizations in Rats Repeatedly Treated With Amphetamine and Dopaminergic Antagonists: New Insights on the Role of Dopamine in Calling Behavior

“…These calls have dissimilar acoustic features and are emitted in response to aversive or pleasurable stimuli, respectively ( Simola and Brudzynski, 2018a ). Measuring the emission of USVs is an informative approach in rat studies about the neurobiology of emotional behavior and the factors that modify the affective state, including the exposure to psychoactive drugs ( Barker et al, 2015 ; Simola and Granon, 2019 ; Wendler et al, 2019 ; Burgdorf et al, 2020 ; Premoli et al, 2023 ). Indeed, several drugs that elevate the affective state increase the emission of 50-kHz USVs in rats ( Maier et al, 2012 ; Simola et al, 2012 ; Sanchez et al, 2022 ; Sohn et al, 2022 ) and so does the presentation of stimuli previously associated with those drugs ( Knutson et al, 1999 ; Ma et al, 2010 ; Simola et al, 2014 ; Hamed and Kursa, 2018 ).…”