TY - JOUR T1 - Social context increases ultrasonic vocalizations during restraint in adult mice Y1 - 2020 A1 - Lefebvre, E. A1 - Granon, S. A1 - Chauveau, F. KW - Arousal KW - Free moving KW - Restraint KW - Social interaction KW - ultrasonic vocalization AB -

Adult mice emit many ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) during social interaction tasks, but only a few studies have yet reported USVs in stressed adult mice. Our aim was to study which experimental conditions favor USV emission during behaviors associated with different emotional states. As USVs likely mediate social communication, we hypothesized that temporary social isolation followed by exposure to a novel social congener would promote USV emission. USVs were recorded in three different behavioral paradigms: restraint, free moving in a new environment, and during a social interaction task. We compared USV emission, with or without the presence of a social congener, in animals socially isolated during different periods (0, 6 or 21 days). Social isolation decreased the number of USVs during free moving, whereas it increased during restraint. During the social interaction task, animals produced high-frequency USVs (median: 72.6 kHz, 25–75% range: 67.6–78.2 kHz), especially when the social partner was active and social motivation was high. During restraint, presence of a social congener increased the call rate of low-frequency USVs (median: 52.4 kHz, 25–75% range: 44.8–56.5 kHz). USV frequency followed two unimodal distributions that distinguished low-frequency USVs (≤ 60 kHz) mainly emitted during free-moving (90.9% of total USVs) and restraint (93.1%) conditions, from high-frequency USVs (> 60 kHz) mainly emitted during the social interaction task (85.1% of total USVs). The present study confirms that USV call rate and frequency depend on behavioral states, and provides evidence that the presence of a congener promotes ultrasonic vocalizations in restrained adult mice.

UR - http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10071-019-01338-2 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Perinatal high‐fat diet impairs pup retrieval and induces sex‐specific changes in ultrasonic vocalization characteristics of rat pups Y1 - 2019 A1 - Abuaish, Sameera A1 - Tse, Emmanuel K. A1 - McGowan, Patrick O. KW - development KW - maternal behavior KW - mother–pup interactions KW - perinatal high‐fat diet KW - rodent KW - sonogram KW - ultrasonic vocalization AB -

Rodent pups emit ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) to solicit maternal behavior, promoting their survival. Conversely, maternal behaviors affect the expression of pup USVs. We previously demonstrated that a maternal diet high in saturated fat (HFD) alters maternal behavior and is associated with early maturation of pups and their stress physiology. Here, we assessed the developmental profiles of pup USVs using quantitative and qualitative measures on postnatal days (PND)7 and 13. Quantitative measures included call counts, duration, and frequency, while qualitative measures examined calls' sonographic structures. HFD offspring lacked the typical decrease in USV numbers with age observed among control offspring. They also had shorter calls at PND7 compared to control and HFD offspring at PND13. HFD female offspring showed a greater number of one‐frequency‐sweep calls, while male pups showed a greater number of two‐frequency‐sweep calls compared to control offspring. Concomitantly, HFD dams showed impaired pup retrieval on PND7. The data suggest that fewer USVs of shorter duration in HFD offspring may alter dam solicitation and thus impair maternal pup retrieval. This study highlights the impacts of perinatal HFD exposure on the dyadic reciprocal interaction between dam and pups, which may set the stage for long‐lasting effects on offspring physiology and behavior.

UR - https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/dev.21923 ER -