Abstract
Rats are known to emit ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs). These USVs have been hypothesized to hold biological meaning, and the relationship between USVs and behavior has been extensively studied. However, most of these studies looked at specific conditions, such as fear-inducing situations and sexual encounters. In the present experiment, the USVs of pairs of rats in ordinary housing conditions were recorded and their features were examined. Three clusters of USVs in the 25-, 40-, and 60-kHz range were detected, which roughly corresponded to fighting, feeding, and moving, respectively. We analyzed sequential combinations of two or more clusters using a state transition model. The results revealed a more specific correspondence between the USVs and behaviors, suggesting that rat USV may work as a type of communication tool.
Highlights
Rats emit ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) in response to various situations [1]
USVs are thought to induce or modulate behaviors: 40-kHz USVs by isolated infant rats induce maternal and retrieval behavior in adult female rats [8,9]; 50-kHz USVs emitted by male rats induce solicitation behavior in female rats [10,11]; and 22-kHz USVs reduce aggressive behavior of dominant male rats [2]
Behaviors and clusters of USVs After recording, we investigated audio recording data 50 ms at a time, and when USVs were emitted, we analyzed video recording data, which were synchronized with the audio
Summary
Rats emit ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) in response to various situations [1]. Long (.0.3 s) 22-kHz USVs are emitted in aversive contexts, such as after defeat in an aggressive encounter [2,3], presentation of a cue predicting foot shock [4], and in sexual contexts, such as after ejaculation [5]. Short (,0.3 s) 50-kHz USVs are emitted during play [6], copulation [7], and aggression [2]. Electrophysiological or pharmacological treatments induce either 50- or 22kHz USVs, depending on whether their nature is appetitive or aversive [13,16,17,18,19,20,21,22]
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