TY - JOUR
T1 - Why do mice squeak? Toward a better understanding of defensive vocalization
AU - Ruat, Julia
AU - Genewsky, Andreas J.
AU - Heinz, Daniel E.
AU - Kaltwasser, Sebastian F.
AU - Canteras, Newton S.
AU - Czisch, Michael
AU - Chen, Alon
AU - Wotjak, Carsten T.
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2022
PY - 2022/7/15
Y1 - 2022/7/15
N2 - Although mice mostly communicate in the ultrasonic range, they also emit audible calls. We demonstrate that mice selectively bred for high anxiety-related behavior (HAB) have a high disposition for emitting sonic calls when caught by the tail. The vocalization was unrelated to pain but sensitive to anxiolytics. As revealed by manganese-enhanced MRI, HAB mice displayed an increased tonic activity of the periaqueductal gray (PAG). Selective inhibition of the dorsolateral PAG not only reduced anxiety-like behavior but also completely abolished sonic vocalization. Calls were emitted at a fundamental frequency of 3.8 kHz, which falls into the hearing range of numerous predators. Indeed, playback of sonic vocalization attracted rats if associated with a stimulus mouse. If played back to HAB mice, sonic calls were repellent in the absence of a conspecific but attractive in their presence. Our data demonstrate that sonic vocalization attracts both predators and conspecifics depending on the context.
AB - Although mice mostly communicate in the ultrasonic range, they also emit audible calls. We demonstrate that mice selectively bred for high anxiety-related behavior (HAB) have a high disposition for emitting sonic calls when caught by the tail. The vocalization was unrelated to pain but sensitive to anxiolytics. As revealed by manganese-enhanced MRI, HAB mice displayed an increased tonic activity of the periaqueductal gray (PAG). Selective inhibition of the dorsolateral PAG not only reduced anxiety-like behavior but also completely abolished sonic vocalization. Calls were emitted at a fundamental frequency of 3.8 kHz, which falls into the hearing range of numerous predators. Indeed, playback of sonic vocalization attracted rats if associated with a stimulus mouse. If played back to HAB mice, sonic calls were repellent in the absence of a conspecific but attractive in their presence. Our data demonstrate that sonic vocalization attracts both predators and conspecifics depending on the context.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85133834843&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2022.104657
DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2022.104657
M3 - مقالة
SN - 2589-0042
VL - 25
JO - iScience
JF - iScience
IS - 7
M1 - 104657
ER -