Ultrasonic Vocalizations in Rat and Mouse Pups

Hofer, Myron A.; Shair, Harry N.; Brunelli, Susan A.

doi:10.1002/0471142301.ns0814s17

Cited by 101 publications

(121 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…The reduction of isolation-induced USVs at P17 also constituted an anxiolytic effect of PS (Morgan et al, 1999;Hofer et al, 2002), consistent with a previous study that found PS suppresses USVs at P14 (Morgan et al, 1999). The pitch of USVs from control pups decreased with age, as previously reported (Kromkhun et al, 2013), but increased with age in PS pups, further suggesting atypical development following PS.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…The pitch of USVs from control pups decreased with age, as previously reported (Kromkhun et al, 2013), but increased with age in PS pups, further suggesting atypical development following PS. Isolation-induced USVs are inherently social (Hofer et al, 2002;Harmon et al, 2008), and reductions of USVs have been found in rodent models of ASDs (Crawley, 2007;Higashida et al, 2011). Diminished USVs in rat pups are suggested to model the lack of crying observed in some children with ASDs (Crawley, 2007).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Socioemotional behavior was measured in P7 and P17 offspring by isolation-induced USVs, based on the protocol described by Hofer et al, (2002). At P60, anxiety-like behavior was measured in the elevated plus maze (EPM) and open-field test, and sociability was measured in the social choice test.…”

Section: Behavioral Testingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Prenatal Stress Alters the Development of Socioemotional Behavior and Amygdala Neuron Excitability in Rats

Ehrlich

Rainnie

2015

Neuropsychopharmacol

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Prenatal stress (PS) is a risk factor for neurodevelopmental disorders with diverse ages of onset and socioemotional symptoms. Some PS-linked disorders involve characteristic social deficits, such as autism spectrum disorders and schizophrenia, but PS also promotes anxiety disorders. We propose the diversity of symptoms following PS arises from perturbations to early brain development. To this end, we characterized the effects of PS on the developmental trajectory of physiology of the amygdala, a late-developing center for socioemotional control. We found that PS dampened socioemotional behavior and reduced amygdala neuron excitability in offspring during infancy (at postnatal days (P)10, 14, 17 and 21), preadolescence (day 28), and adulthood (day 60). PS offspring in infancy produced fewer isolation-induced vocalizations and in adulthood exhibited less anxiety-like behavior and deficits in social interaction. PS neurons had a more hyperpolarized resting membrane potential from infancy to adulthood and produced fewer action potentials. Moreover, adult amygdala neurons from PS animals expressed larger action potential afterhyperpolarizations and H-current relative to controls, further limiting excitability. Our results suggest that PS can suppress socioemotional behavior throughout development and produce age-specific alterations to amygdala physiology.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Prenatal Stress Alters the Development of Socioemotional Behavior and Amygdala Neuron Excitability in Rats

Ehrlich

Rainnie

2015

Neuropsychopharmacol

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“…Crucial to the diagnosis of autism are impairments in communication, including delays in verbal language and stereotyped, repetitive language patterns (1). Hidden from normal human detection, mouse communicative strategies include numerous olfactory cues as well as ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) (8,9). Mice begin vocalizing shortly after birth, peak in vocalization rates around postnatal day 8 (P8), and continue vocalizing, albeit at reduced rates, throughout adulthood (10).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Altered ultrasonic vocalizations in a tuberous sclerosis mouse model of autism

Young

Schenk

Yang

et al. 2010

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

136

133

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Tuberous sclerosis (TSC) is an autosomally dominant neurocutaneous disease notable for its high comorbidity with autism in human patients. Studies of murine models of tuberous sclerosis have found defects in cognition and learning, but thus far have not uncovered deficits in social behaviors relevant to autism. To explore social communication and interaction in TSC2 heterozygous mice, we recorded ultrasonic vocalizations (USV) and found that although both wild-type (WT) and heterozygous pups born to WT dams showed similar call rates and patterns, baseline vocalization rates were elevated in pups born to heterozygous dams. Further analysis revealed several robust features of maternal potentiation in all but WT pups born to heterozygous dams. This lack of potentiation is suggestive of defects in mother-pup social interaction during or before the reunion period between WT pups and heterozygous dams. Intriguingly, male pups of both genotypes born to heterozygous dams showed particularly heightened call rates and burst patterns. Because our maternal retrieval experiments revealed that TSC2 +/− dams exhibited improved defensive reactions against intruders and highly efficient pup retrieval performance, the alterations in their pups' USVs and maternal potentiation do not appear to result from poor maternal care. These findings suggest that a pup's interaction with its mother strongly influences the pup's vocal communication, revealing an intriguing dependence of this social behavior on TSC2 gene dosage of both parties involved. Our study of this murine model thus uncovers social abnormalities that arise from TSC haploinsufficiency and are suggestive of autism.USV | TSC | mTOR | maternal care | social communication

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“…Both adult and infant USVs are decreased by anxiolytic drugs and increased by anxiogenic drugs (Gardner 1985;Insel et al 1986;Cuomo et al 1988;Branchi et al 2001;Jelen et al 2003), suggesting that they reflect an aversive emotional state of the animal, although the pharmacology supporting infant and adult USV appears to diverge (Simola 2015). Moreover, at least in older pups with a functional amygdala (.PN10), the presence of an imminent threat, such as predator odor presentation, inhibits USV emission (Takahashi 1992;Shair et al 1998;Hofer et al 2001;Wiedenmayer and Barr 2001;Moriceau et al 2004;Wiedenmayer et al 2005). Therefore, USV are increased at all ages as the level of anxiety increases (e.g., sustained fear) and inhibited by phasic fear, reflecting a differential USV modulation by anxiety and fear (Jelen et al 2003).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecologically relevant neurobehavioral assessment of the development of threat learning

2016

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As altricial infants gradually transition to adults, their proximate environment changes. In three short weeks, pups transition from a small world with the caregiver and siblings to a complex milieu rich in dangers as their environment expands. Such contrasting environments require different learning abilities and lead to distinct responses throughout development. Here, we will review some of the learned fear conditioned responses to threats in rats during their ontogeny, including behavioral and physiological measures that permit the assessment of learning and its supporting neurobiology from infancy through adulthood. In adulthood, odor-shock conditioning produces robust fear learning to the odor that depends upon the amygdala and related circuitry. Paradoxically, this conditioning in young pups fails to support fear learning and supports approach learning to the odor previously paired with shock. This approach learning is mediated by the infant attachment network that does not include the amygdala. During the age range when pups transition from the infant to the adult circuit (10 -15 d old), pups have access to both networks: odor -shock conditioning in maternal presence uses the attachment circuit but the adult amygdala-dependent circuit when alone. However, throughout development (as young as 5 d old) the attachment associated learning can be overridden and amygdala-dependent fear learning supported, if the mother expresses fear in the presence of the pup. This social modulation of the fear permits the expression of defense reactions in life threatening situations informed by the caregiver but prevents the learning of the caregiver itself as a threat.

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Ultrasonic Vocalizations in Rat and Mouse Pups

Cited by 101 publications

References 32 publications

Prenatal Stress Alters the Development of Socioemotional Behavior and Amygdala Neuron Excitability in Rats

Prenatal Stress Alters the Development of Socioemotional Behavior and Amygdala Neuron Excitability in Rats

Altered ultrasonic vocalizations in a tuberous sclerosis mouse model of autism

Ecologically relevant neurobehavioral assessment of the development of threat learning

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