02470nas a2200181 4500008004100000245008100041210006900122520187500191653002002066653002502086653002002111653001302131653002702144100001402171700001902185700001702204856006702221 2009 eng d00aResponses of neurons in the cat primary auditory cortex to sequential sounds0 aResponses of neurons in the cat primary auditory cortex to seque3 a

In the natural acoustic environment sounds fre- quently arrive at the two ears in quick succession. The re- sponses of a cortical neuron to acoustic stimuli can be dra- matically altered, usually suppressed, by a preceding sound. The purpose of this study was to determine if the binaural interaction evoked by a preceding sound is involved in sub- sequent suppressive interactions observed in auditory cor- tex neurons. Responses of neurons in the primary auditory cortex (AI) exhibiting binaural suppressive interactions (EO/I) were studied in barbiturate-anesthetized cats. For the major- ity (72.5%) of EO/I neurons studied, the response to a mon- aural contralateral stimulus was suppressed by a preceding monaural contralateral stimulus, but was not changed by a preceding monaural ipsilateral stimulus. For this subset of EO/I neurons, when a monaural contralateral stimulus was preceded by a binaural stimulus, the level of both the ipsilat- eral and the contralateral component of the binaural stimulus influenced the response to the subsequent monaural con- tralateral stimulus. When the contralateral level of the binau- ral stimulus was constant, increasing its ipsilateral level de- creased the suppression of the response to the subsequent monaural contralateral stimulus. When the ipsilateral level of the binaural stimulus was constant, increasing its contralat- eral level increased the suppression of the response to the subsequent monaural contralateral stimulus. These results demonstrate that the sequential inhibition of responses of AI neurons is a function of the product of a preceding binaural interaction. The magnitude of the response to the contralateral stimulus is related to, but not determined by the magnitude of the response to the preceding binaural stimulus. Possible mechanisms of this sequential interaction are discussed.

10aauditory cortex10abinaural interaction10aforward masking10amonaural10asequential interaction1 aZhang, J.1 aNakamoto, K.T.1 aKitzes, L.M. uhttps://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S030645220900575201218nas a2200169 4500008004100000020002200041245005200063210005200115520064600167653002200813653003000835653005700865100002300922700002700945700002100972856005500993 2019 eng d a978-3-030-30733-200aPhonetic Variation in Cat–Human Communication0 aPhonetic Variation in Cat–Human Communication3 a

In this chapter, the phonetic variation of the vocal communication between domestic cats and humans is summarised and described, based on previous research as well as more recent studies and observations. Emphasis lies on classifying and describing the different vocalisation types of the cat using phonetic methods and terminology. The articulation, phonetic transcription and acoustic patterns of the most common vocalisation types are described. In addition, the segments (vowel and consonants), the prosody (the tone, intonation, rhythm and dynamics) of cat sounds as well as human perception of cat vocalisations is summarised.

10aCat vocalisations10aCat–human communication10aPhonetic description and transcription of cat sounds1 aPastorinho, Ramiro1 aSousa, Ana, Catarina A1 aSchötz, Susanne uhttp://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-3-030-30734-902169nas a2200253 4500008004100000022001400041245010400055210006900159260001600228300001100244490000600255520132100261653002501582653001501607653001101622653001501633653002301648653001501671100002701686700002401713700002801737700002501765856012501790 2019 eng d a2054-570300aPawsitively sad: pet-owners are more sensitive to negative emotion in animal distress vocalizations0 aPawsitively sad petowners are more sensitive to negative emotion cJun-08-2021 a1815550 v63 a

Pets have numerous, effective methods to communicate with their human hosts. Perhaps most conspicuous of these are distress vocalizations: in cats, the ‘miaow’ and in dogs, the ‘whine’ or ‘whimper’. We compared a sample of young adults who owned cats and or dogs (‘pet-owners’ n = 264) and who did not (n=297) on their ratings of the valence of animal distress vocalizations, taken from a standardized database of sounds. We also examined these participants’ self-reported symptoms of anxiety and depression, and their scores on a measure of interpersonal relationship functioning. Pet-owners rated the animal distress vocalizations as sadder than adults who did not own a pet. Cat-owners specifically gave the most negative ratings of cat miaows compared with other participants, but were no different in their ratings of other sounds. Dog sounds were rated more negatively overall, in fact as negatively as human baby cries. Pet-owning adults (cat only, dog only, both) were not significantly different from adults with no pets on symptoms of depression, anxiety or on self- reported interpersonal relationship functioning. We suggest that pet ownership is associated with greater sensitivity to negative emotion in cat and dog distress vocalizations.

10aanimal vocalizations10acat miaows10acrying10adog whines10aemotion perception10apet-owners1 aParsons, Christine, E.1 aLeBeau, Richard, T.1 aKringelbach, Morten, L.1 aYoung, Katherine, S. uhttps://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.181555https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsos.18155502742nas a2200277 4500008004100000022001300041245011000054210007100164260001600235300001400251490000800265520188700273653001702160653002702177653001102204653001502215653003202230653002002262653002402282653001202306100002202318700002002340700002002360700001802380856006602398 2017 eng d a0003347200aConflict or consensus? Synchronous change in mother–young vocal communication across weaning in the cat0 aConflict or consensus Synchronous change in mother–young vocal c cJan-08-2017 a233 - 2400 v1303 a

Since parent–offspring conflict theory was first proposed, a number of studies in a range of mammalian species have questioned its importance, suggesting that coordination, rather than conflict, occurs during weaning. In this study we propose a set of behaviours for studying the development of the mother–offspring relationship: offspring separation calls and the corresponding maternal response, which can be used to describe the continually developing motivational changes in both parties accompanying weaning. We recorded and analysed separation calls of kittens of the domestic cat, Felis silvestris catus, during the first two postnatal months, and performed playback experiments to observe their mothers' behavioural response. Three different stimuli were played back: calls of the mothers' kittens at their correct age, calls of their kittens from an earlier age (1 week old) and a control sound. We found that kittens' separation calls changed in several respects across the 8 weeks of the study. After the first postnatal month, the number, intensity and fundamental frequency of calls declined markedly, while kittens' latency to call increased. In parallel, we found that during playback tests, mothers' willingness to return to the nest or reunite with their kittens decreased notably as the kittens approached weaning age. Since this decline was present even when mothers were played back the calls of their own kittens previously recorded at an earlier age, we conclude that the decline in responsiveness was not due to a change in the kittens' vocalizations, but rather to a change in the mothers' motivational state. Our findings support the view that weaning in the domestic cat is a well-synchronized process between mothers and offspring, at least under the favourable nutritional conditions of the present study.

10adomestic cat10aFelis silvestris catus10amammal10amotivation10aparent–offspring conflict10aseparation call10avocal communication10aweaning1 aBánszegi, Oxána1 aSzenczi, Péter1 aUrrutia, Andrea1 aHudson, Robyn uhttp://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0003347217302002