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Abstract
Deep breaths are one of three breathing patterns in rodents characterized by an increased tidal volume. While humans incorporate deep breaths into vocal behavior, it was unknown whether nonhuman mammals use deep breaths for vocal production. We have utilized subglottal pressure recordings in awake, spontaneously behaving male Sprague-Dawley rats in five contexts: sleep, rest, noxious stimulation, exposure to a female in estrus, and exposure to an unknown male. Deep breaths were produced at rates ranging between 17.5 and 90.3 deep breaths per hour. While overall breathing and vocal rates were higher in social and noxious contexts, the rate of deep breaths was only increased during the male's interaction with a female. Results also inform our understanding of vocal-respiratory integration in rats. The rate of deep breaths that were associated with a vocalization during the exhalation phase increased with vocal activity. The proportion of deep breaths that were associated with a vocalization (on average 22%) was similar to the proportion of sniffing or eupnea breaths that contain a vocalization. Therefore, vocal motor patterns appear to be entrained to the prevailing breathing rhythm, i.e., vocalization uses the available breathing pattern rather than recruiting a specific breathing pattern. Furthermore, the pattern of a deep breath was different when it was associated with a vocalization, suggesting that motor planning occurs. Finally, deep breaths are a source for acoustic variation; for example, call duration and fundamental frequency modulation were both larger in 22-kHz calls produced following a deep inhalation.NEW & NOTEWORTHY The emission of a long, deep, audible breath can express various emotions. The investigation of deep breaths, also known as sighing, in a nonhuman mammal demonstrated the occasional use of deep breaths for vocal production. Similar to the human equivalent, acoustic features of a deep breath vocalization are characteristic.
Highlights
Breathing is one of three movements besides laryngeal valving and upper vocal tract posturing that must be coordinated to produce acoustic signals for vocal communication in mammals (Titze 2000)
The subsequent discussion will focus on four main results: 1) In some social contexts, sighing rates increase in the awake and spontaneously behaving male rat
The proportion of deep breaths that contain a vocalization resembles the proportion of sniffing or eupnea breaths that contain vocalizations
Summary
Breathing is one of three movements besides laryngeal valving and upper vocal tract posturing that must be coordinated to produce acoustic signals for vocal communication in mammals (Titze 2000). Our understanding of normal movement control in vocal production of nonhuman mammals is expanding (e.g., Bennett et al 2019; Jürgens 2009; Okobi et al 2019; Riede 2018; Takahashi et al 2015; Tschida et al 2019), normal vocal breathing is maybe the least understood behavior of those three (Del Negro et al 2018). Its regular occurrence is critical for maintaining functionality of lung alveoli (Bartlett 1971; Haldane et al 1919; Thet et al 1979). In humans it is associated with the expression of emotional states (e.g., Vlemincx et al 2011). The incorporation of deep breaths in vocal communication of rodents has been suggested (Hernandez et al 2017; Riede 2014; Soltysik and Jelen 2005) but not investigated
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