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Bonauto SM, Greuel OM, Honeycutt JA. Playback of rat 22-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations as a translational assay of negative affective states: An analysis of evoked behavior and brain activity. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2023; 153:105396. [PMID: 37739328 PMCID: PMC10591797 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105396] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2023] [Revised: 09/14/2023] [Accepted: 09/17/2023] [Indexed: 09/24/2023]
Abstract
The subjective nature of human emotions makes them uniquely challenging to investigate in preclinical models. While behavioral assays in rodents aim to evaluate affect (i.e., anxiety, hypervigilance), they often lack ethological validity. Playback of negatively valenced 22-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) in rats shows promise as a translational tool to investigate affective processing. Much like how human facial expressions can communicate internal states, rats emit 22-kHz USVs that similarly convey negative affective states to conspecifics indicating possible threat. 22-kHz USV playback elicits avoidance and hypervigilant behaviors, and recruit brain regions comparable to those seen in human brains evoked by viewing fearful faces. Indeed, 22-kHz playback alters neural activity in brain regions associated with negative valence systems (i.e., amygdala, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, periaqueductal gray) alongside increases in behaviors typically associated with anxiety. Here, we present evidence from the literature that supports leveraging 22-kHz USV playback in rat preclinical models to obtain clinically relevant and translational findings to identify the neural underpinnings of affective processing and neuropathological dysfunction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sydney M Bonauto
- Program in Neuroscience, Bowdoin College, Brunswick, ME 04011, United States
| | - Olivia M Greuel
- Program in Neuroscience, Bowdoin College, Brunswick, ME 04011, United States
| | - Jennifer A Honeycutt
- Program in Neuroscience, Bowdoin College, Brunswick, ME 04011, United States; Department of Psychology, Bowdoin College, Brunswick, ME 04011, United States.
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Schwarting RKW. Behavioral analysis in laboratory rats: Challenges and usefulness of 50-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2023; 152:105260. [PMID: 37268181 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105260] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2023] [Revised: 05/24/2023] [Accepted: 05/30/2023] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
Many rodent species emit and detect vocalizations in the ultrasonic range. Rats use three classes of ultrasonic vocalizations depending on developmental stage, experience and the behavioral situation. Calls from one class emitted by juvenile and adult rats, the so-called 50-kHz calls, are typical for appetitive and social situations. This review provides a brief historical account on the introduction of 50-kHz calls in behavioral research followed by a survey of their scientific applications focusing on the last five years, where 50-kHz publications reached a climax. Then, specific methodological challenges will be addressed, like how to measure and report 50-kHz USV, the problem of assignment of acoustic signals to a specific sender in a social situation, and individual variability in call propensity. Finally, the intricacy of interpreting 50-kHz results will be discussed focusing on the most prevalent ones, namely as communicative signals and/or readouts of the sender's emotional status.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rainer K W Schwarting
- Experimental and Biological Psychology, Behavioral Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Philipps-University of Marburg, Gutenbergstrasse 18, 35032 Marburg, Germany; Marburg Center for Mind, Brain, and Behavior (MCMBB), Hans-Meerwein-Strasse 6, 35032 Marburg, Germany.
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Berz A, Pasquini de Souza C, Wöhr M, Steinmüller S, Bruntsch M, Schäfer MKH, Schwarting RKW. Contingent Social Interaction Does Not Prevent Habituation towards Playback of Pro-Social 50-kHz Calls: Behavioral Responses and Brain Activation Patterns. Brain Sci 2022; 12:brainsci12111474. [PMID: 36358402 PMCID: PMC9688071 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci12111474] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2022] [Revised: 10/21/2022] [Accepted: 10/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Rats, which are highly social animals, are known to communicate using ultrasonic vocalizations (USV) in different frequency ranges. Calls around 50 kHz are related to positive affective states and promote social interactions. Our previous work has shown that the playback of natural 50-kHz USV leads to a strong social approach response toward the sound source, which is related to activation in the nucleus accumbens. In male Wistar rats, the behavioral response habituates, that is, becomes weaker or is even absent, when such playback is repeated several days later, an outcome found to be memory-dependent. Here, we asked whether such habituation is due to the lack of a contingent social consequence after playback in the initial test and whether activation of the nucleus accumbens, as measured by c-fos immunohistochemistry, can still be observed in a retest. To this end, groups of young male Wistar rats underwent an initial 50-kHz USV playback test, immediately after which they were either (1) kept temporarily alone, (2) exposed to a same-sex juvenile, or (3) to their own housing group. One week later, they underwent a retest with playback; this time not followed by social consequences but by brain removal for c-fos immunohistochemistry. Consistent with previous reports, behavioral changes evoked by the initial exposure to 50-kHz USV playback included a strong approach response. In the retest, no such response was found, irrespective of whether rats had experienced a contingent social consequence after the initial test or not. At the neural level, no substantial c-fos activation was found in the nucleus accumbens, but unexpected strong activation was detected in the anterior cingulate cortex, with some of it in GABAergic cells. The c-fos patterns did not differ between groups but cell numbers were individually correlated with behavior, i.e., rats that still approached in response to playback in the retest showed more activation. Together, these data do not provide substantial evidence that the lack of a contingent social consequence after 50-kHz USV playback accounts for approach habituation in the retest. Additionally, there is apparently no substantial activation of the nucleus accumbens in the retest, whereas the exploratory findings in the anterior cingulate cortex indicate that this brain area might be involved when individual rats still approach 50-kHz USV playback.
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Affiliation(s)
- Annuska Berz
- Behavioral Neuroscience, Experimental and Biological Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Philipps-University Marburg, 35032 Marburg, Germany
- Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior, Philipps-University Marburg, 35032 Marburg, Germany
| | - Camila Pasquini de Souza
- Department of Pharmacology, Biological Sciences Building, Federal University of Parana, Curitiba 81530-000, PR, Brazil
| | - Markus Wöhr
- Behavioral Neuroscience, Experimental and Biological Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Philipps-University Marburg, 35032 Marburg, Germany
- Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior, Philipps-University Marburg, 35032 Marburg, Germany
- KU Leuven, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Research Unit Brain and Cognition, Laboratory of Biological Psychology, Social and Affective Neuroscience Research Group, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium
- Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Sebastian Steinmüller
- Behavioral Neuroscience, Experimental and Biological Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Philipps-University Marburg, 35032 Marburg, Germany
| | - Maria Bruntsch
- Behavioral Neuroscience, Experimental and Biological Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Philipps-University Marburg, 35032 Marburg, Germany
- Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior, Philipps-University Marburg, 35032 Marburg, Germany
| | - Martin K.-H. Schäfer
- Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior, Philipps-University Marburg, 35032 Marburg, Germany
- Institute of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Philipps-University Marburg, 35032 Marburg, Germany
| | - Rainer K. W. Schwarting
- Behavioral Neuroscience, Experimental and Biological Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Philipps-University Marburg, 35032 Marburg, Germany
- Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior, Philipps-University Marburg, 35032 Marburg, Germany
- Correspondence:
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