Ultrasonic signals associated with different types of social behavior of mice

Abstract

Communication plays an integral role in human social dynamics and is impaired in several neurodevelopmental disorders. Mice are used to study the neurobiology of social behavior; however, the extent to which mouse vocalizations influence social dynamics has remained elusive because it is difficult to identify the vocalizing animal among mice involved in a group interaction. By tracking the ultrasonic vocal behavior of individual mice and using an algorithm developed to group phonically similar signals, we show that distinct patterns of vocalization emerge as male mice perform specific social actions. Mice dominating other mice were more likely to emit different vocal signals than mice avoiding social interactions. Furthermore, we show that the patterns of vocal expression influence the behavior of the socially-engaged partner but no other animals in the cage. These findings clarify the function of mouse communication by revealing a communicative ultrasonic signaling repertoire.

Spontaneous social communication in laboratory mice - placing ultrasonic vocalizations in their behavioral context

“…In the vast majority of previous studies investigating mouse social communication, USVs were triggered by social deprivation (e.g., two weeks of isolation) and recorded in the first minutes or hours of interaction (Neunuebel et al, 2015;Sangiamo et al, 2020;Warren et al, 2018bWarren et al, , 2020). The USV types were either classified in a pre-determined repertoire (Scattoni et al, 2010) or simplified for modeling to reduce the complexity of the signals (e.g., ignoring harmonic components or frequency jumps or normalizing over duration; (Neunuebel et al, 2015;Sangiamo et al, 2020;Warren et al, 2018bWarren et al, , 2020). In our study, we provide a complementary approach by determining a large set of acoustic variables to avoid masking the complexity of the signals and leave the door open for any user to design their own classification.…”

“…The lowest call rates occurred when the animals were isolated from one another, whereas the highest call rates occurred when the mice were sniffing each other's ano-genital region. Simple vocalizations (complex ones with frequency jumps or high modulations were discarded) are emitted in different proportions depending on the behavioral context (Sangiamo et al, 2020).…”

Phenotyping in Mice Using Continuous Home Cage Monitoring and Ultrasonic Vocalization Recordings

“…Frequency: Several aspects of vocalization frequency may be considered. The principal frequency of calls has been linked to affective state and specific behaviors in rodents (Knutson, Burgdorf, & Panksepp, 2002;Sangiamo, Warren, & Neunuebel, 2020). There are strain differences in the highest, lowest, and medium frequencies of vocalizations emitted by mice in particular contexts (Sugimoto et al, 2011).…”

“…By contrast, mouse USVs were initially thought to function only to facilitate or inhibit social interactions (Portfors, 2007). More recently, though, mouse USVs have been the subject of greater study, and they have now been similarly linked with affective state and specific behaviors (Faure et al, 2017;Sangiamo et al, 2020;Simola & Granon, 2019).…”

DLX5/6GABAergic expression affects social vocalization: implications for human evolution

“…courtship, aggression, fear), with the animal's developmental stage, with their genetic background and can be altered by induced genetic modifications. Although the link between USVs profiles and social activity is still incompletely analysed, a recent study has implemented artificial intelligence algorithms to associate USVs of individual mice to specific social actions (Ey, et al 2020;Sangiamo, et al 2020) unveiling a functional correlation between specific USVs and social behaviours. The generation of voluntary structured vocalizations requires the coordination of different levels of cognitive and motor activities and involves a complex and diffuse neural network ranging from the prefrontal and motor cortical areas for voluntary initiation of vocalization to several forebrain and brainstem regions (Jurgens 2002;Simonyan 2014) for the control of laryngeal movements and respiration.…”