Reduced emission of alarm 22-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations during fear conditioning in rats lacking the serotonin transporter

Willadsen, Maria; Uengoer, Metin; Schwarting, Rainer K.W.; Homberg, Judith R.; Wöhr, Markus

doi:10.1016/j.pnpbp.2020.110072

Cited by 17 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 95 publications

(184 reference statements)

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“…In the response to a predator, male rats primarily produced negatively accelerated descending frequency alarm USVs, whereas female rats primarily produced linear descending alarm USVs. Another study that evaluated the effects of serotonin transporter deficiency in a fear condition found that female rats produced fewer overall alarm USVs than male rats with a higher frequency modulation and longer USV duration than males [72]. This finding complemented other studies that found higher frequencies of 22 kHz alarm USVs of female rats [70,105,163,164].…”

Section: Alarm 22 Khz Usv Acousticssupporting

confidence: 66%

“…Additionally, following fear conditioning training, Sprague-Dawley male rats produced more alarm USVs than female Sprague-Dawley rats during contextual and auditory conditioned stimuli, whereas male and female Long-Evans rats had similar alarm USV productions in response to conditioned stimuli [71]. Likewise, another study that evaluated the effects of serotonin transporter deficiency in a fear condition found that female rats produced fewer alarm USVs than male rats [72].…”

Section: Alarm 22 Khz Usvsmentioning

confidence: 98%

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Biological and Acoustic Sex Differences in Rat Ultrasonic Vocalization

et al. 2021

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The rat model is a useful tool for understanding peripheral and central mechanisms of laryngeal biology. Rats produce ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) that have communicative intent and are altered by experimental conditions such as social environment, stress, diet, drugs, age, and neurological diseases, validating the rat model’s utility for studying communication and related deficits. Sex differences are apparent in both the rat larynx and USV acoustics and are differentially affected by experimental conditions. Therefore, the purpose of this review paper is to highlight the known sex differences in rat USV production, acoustics, and laryngeal biology detailed in the literature across the lifespan.

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Section: Alarm 22 Khz Usv Acousticssupporting

confidence: 66%

Section: Alarm 22 Khz Usvsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Biological and Acoustic Sex Differences in Rat Ultrasonic Vocalization

et al. 2021

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“…Intense fear, observed as a panic attack, is associated with hyperventilation and breathlessness [61], which can be reduced by paroxetine, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor [62]. Interestingly, Willadsen et al (2020) documented that animals lacking the serotonin transporter emitted a lower number of 22 kHz USVs [63]. These results, together with the correlational studies demonstrated by Dupin et al (2019), indicate that the animals warned by the audible sound in our research (the ones emitting short 22 kHz signals) were in intense distress.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 61%

Relaying Aversive USVs Alarm Calls Depends on the Previous Experience. Empathy, Social Buffering or Panic?

Karwicka¹,

Wiatrowska²,

Kondrakiewicz³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) are one of the evolutionarily oldest forms of animal communication. In order to study the communication architecture in an aversive social situation, we used a behavioral model in which one animal, the observer, is witnessing as his cagemate, the demonstrator, is experiencing a series of mild electrical foot-shocks (aversive stimuli). We studied the effect of foot-shocks experience in the observer and the influence of a warning sound (emit-ted shortly before the shock is applied) on USVs communication. These experiments revealed that such a warning seems to increase the arousal level, which differentiates the responses depending on previous experience. It can be identified by the emission of characteristic, short 22-kHz calls, of a duration below 100 ms. Furthermore, by analyzing temporally overlapping USVs, we found that in ‘Warned’ pairs with a naive observer, 22-kHz were mixed with 50-kHz calls. This fact, combined with a high fraction of very high-pitched 50-kHz calls (over 75-kHz), suggests the presence of the phenomenon of social buffering. On the other hand, in ‘Warned’ pairs with an experienced observer, pure 22-kHz overlaps were mostly found, signifying possible fear contagion with dis-tress sharing. Hence the importance of differentiating 22-kHz calls to long and short.

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“…We have recently applied a fear conditioning paradigm in rats lacking SERT and obtained evidence for strong effects on fear-related behavior by measuring alarm calls in addition to immobility [37]. Rats emit whistle-like calls in the ultrasonic range, so called ultrasonic vocalizations (USV) [38,39].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fear Extinction and Predictive Trait-Like Inter-Individual Differences in Rats Lacking the Serotonin Transporter

Willadsen

Uengoer

Sługocka

et al. 2021

IJMS

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Anxiety disorders are associated with a failure to sufficiently extinguish fear memories. The serotonergic system (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) with the 5-HT transporter (5-HTT, SERT) is strongly implicated in the regulation of anxiety and fear. In the present study, we examined the effects of SERT deficiency on fear extinction in a differential fear conditioning paradigm in male and female rats. Fear-related behavior displayed during acquisition, extinction, and recovery, was measured through quantification of immobility and alarm 22-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations (USV). Trait-like inter-individual differences in novelty-seeking, anxiety-related behavior, habituation learning, cognitive performance, and pain sensitivity were examined for their predictive value in forecasting fear extinction. Our results show that SERT deficiency strongly affected the emission of 22-kHz USV during differential fear conditioning. During acquisition, extinction, and recovery, SERT deficiency consistently led to a reduction in 22-kHz USV emission. While SERT deficiency did not affect immobility during acquisition, genotype differences started to emerge during extinction, and during recovery rats lacking SERT showed higher levels of immobility than wildtype littermate controls. Recovery was reflected in increased levels of immobility but not 22-kHz USV emission. Prominent sex differences were evident. Among several measures for trait-like inter-individual differences, anxiety-related behavior had the best predictive quality.

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Reduced emission of alarm 22-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations during fear conditioning in rats lacking the serotonin transporter

Cited by 17 publications

References 95 publications

Biological and Acoustic Sex Differences in Rat Ultrasonic Vocalization

Biological and Acoustic Sex Differences in Rat Ultrasonic Vocalization

Relaying Aversive USVs Alarm Calls Depends on the Previous Experience. Empathy, Social Buffering or Panic?

Fear Extinction and Predictive Trait-Like Inter-Individual Differences in Rats Lacking the Serotonin Transporter

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