Separable Brainstem and Forebrain Contributions to Ultrasonic Vocalizations in Infant Rats

Competing views persist concerning the functional significance of ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) emitted by infant rats. One perspective holds that USVs result from an emotional state of fear and anxiety, the adult expression of which depends in part on forebrain mechanisms. Here the authors examin...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Behavioral neuroscience 2005-08, Vol.119 (4), p.1111-1117
Main Authors: Middlemis-Brown, Jessica E, Johnson, Eric D, Blumberg, Mark S
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Affectivity. Emotion
Amygdala
Analysis of Variance
Animal
Animal communication
Animal reproduction
Animal Vocalizations
Animals
Animals, Newborn
Anxiety
Behavior, Animal
Biological and medical sciences
Brain
Brain Stem
Brain Stem - physiology
Decerebrate State - physiopathology
Fear
Female
Forebrain
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Male
Periaqueductal Gray
Personality. Affectivity
Prosencephalon - physiology
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Rats
Rats, Sprague-Dawley
Rodents
Temperature
Time Factors
Ultrasonics
Vocalization, Animal - physiology
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Summary:Competing views persist concerning the functional significance of ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) emitted by infant rats. One perspective holds that USVs result from an emotional state of fear and anxiety, the adult expression of which depends in part on forebrain mechanisms. Here the authors examine whether pups lacking forebrain input are capable of emitting USVs. Aspirations of neocortex and hippocampus or precollicular decerebrations were performed on 8-day-old rats. After the rats recovered, USV responses were recorded for 10 min at room temperature (Phase 1) followed by enhanced cooling for 20 min (Phase 2). Experimental pups emitted significantly fewer USVs than shams during Phase 1 but vocalized at similar rates during Phase 2. Thus, in infants, brainstem neural circuitry is sufficient to support emission of USVs.
ISSN:0735-7044
1939-0084
DOI:10.1037/0735-7044.119.4.1111