Ultrasonic communication in rats: can playback of 50-kHz calls induce approach behavior?

ABSTRACT: Rats emit distinct types of ultrasonic vocalizations, which differ depending on age, the subject's current state and environmental factors. Since it was shown that 50-kHz calls can serve as indices of the animal's positive subjective state, they have received increasing experimental attention, and have successfully been used to study neurobiological mechanisms of positive affect. However, it is likely that such calls do not only reflect a positive affective state, but that they also serve a communicative purpose. Actually, rats emit the highest rates of 50-kHz calls typically during social interactions, like reproductive behavior, juvenile play and tickling. Furthermore, it was recently shown that rats emit 50-kHz calls after separation from conspecifics. The aim of the present study was t

SUBMITTER: Wohr M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2137933 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature