The effects of noise and age on the detection of ultrasonic vocalizations and pure tones by laboratory mice

SummaryIn their natural habitat, mice interact and communicate to regulate major functions, such as reproduction, group coordination, and protection. Nevertheless, little is currently known about their spontaneous emission of ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs), despite their broad use as a phenotypic marker in mouse models of neuropsychiatric disorders. Here, we investigated mouse spontaneous communication by coupling automatic recording, segmentation, and analysis of USVs to the tracking of complex behaviors. We continuously recorded undisturbed same-sex pairs of C57BL/6J males and females at 5 weeks and 3 and 7 months of age over three days. Males emitted only a few short USVs, mainly when isolated from their conspecific, whereas females emitted a high number of USVs, especially when engaged in intense dynamic social interactions. The context-specific use of call types and acoustic variations emerged with increasing age. The emission of USVs also reflected a high level of excitement in social interactions. Finally, mice lacking Shank3, a synaptic protein associated with autism, displayed atypical USV usage and acoustic structure, which did not appear in classical protocols, highlighting the importance of studying spontaneous communication. The methods are freely available for the research community (https://usv.pasteur.cloud).

Download Full-text

Discrimination of natural from synthetic ultrasonic vocalizations by laboratory mice

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America ◽

10.1121/1.4970494 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 140 (4) ◽

pp. 3299-3299

Author(s):

Anastasiya Kobrina ◽

Laurel Screven ◽

Micheal Dent

Keyword(s):

Ultrasonic Vocalizations ◽

Laboratory Mice

Download Full-text

Hearing in Mice via GSR Audiometry

Journal of Speech and Hearing Research ◽

10.1044/jshr.0604.359 ◽

1963 ◽

Vol 6 (4) ◽

pp. 359-368 ◽

Cited By ~ 34

Author(s):

Charles I. Berlin

Keyword(s):

Inverse Relationship ◽

Sound Pressure ◽

Single Units ◽

Sensitivity Curve ◽

Basic Tool ◽

Eighth Nerve ◽

Pure Tones ◽

Conditioned Responses ◽

Frequency Intensity ◽

Near Threshold

Hearing in mice has been difficult to measure behaviorally. With GSR as the basic tool, the sensitivity curve to pure tones in mice has been successfully outlined. The most sensitive frequency-intensity combination was 15 000 cps at 0-5 dB re: 0.0002 dyne/cm 2 , with responses noted from 1 000 to beyond 70 000 cps. Some problems of reliability of conditioning were encountered, as well as findings concerning the inverse relationship between the size of GSR to unattenuated tones and the sound pressure necessary to elicit conditioned responses at or near threshold. These data agree well with the sensitivity of single units of the eighth nerve of the mouse.

Download Full-text

Role of pinnae and head movements in localizing pure tones 1The authors would like to thank Mr. Remi Humbert for implementing the experiment in Turbo Pascal and for his further assistance.

Swiss Journal of Psychology ◽

10.1024//1421-0185.58.3.170 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 58 (3) ◽

pp. 170-179 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Barbara S. Muller ◽

Pierre Bovet

Keyword(s):

Sound Source ◽

Head Movement ◽

Movement Analysis ◽

Head Movements ◽

Sound Sources ◽

Localization Accuracy ◽

Sound Effects ◽

Posterior Quadrant ◽

Localization Performance ◽

Pure Tones

Twelve blindfolded subjects localized two different pure tones, randomly played by eight sound sources in the horizontal plane. Either subjects could get information supplied by their pinnae (external ear) and their head movements or not. We found that pinnae, as well as head movements, had a marked influence on auditory localization performance with this type of sound. Effects of pinnae and head movements seemed to be additive; the absence of one or the other factor provoked the same loss of localization accuracy and even much the same error pattern. Head movement analysis showed that subjects turn their face towards the emitting sound source, except for sources exactly in the front or exactly in the rear, which are identified by turning the head to both sides. The head movement amplitude increased smoothly as the sound source moved from the anterior to the posterior quadrant.

Download Full-text