Aerodynamics and motor control of ultrasonic vocalizations for social communication in mice and rats

Background Rodent ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) are crucial to their social communication and a widely used translational tool for linking gene mutations to behavior. To maximize the causal interpretation of experimental treatments, we need to understand how neural control affects USV production. However, both the aerodynamics of USV production and its neural control remain poorly understood. Results Here, we test three intralaryngeal whistle mechanisms—the wall and alar edge impingement, and shallow cavity tone—by combining in vitro larynx physiology and individual-based 3D airway reconstructions with fluid dynamics simulations. Our results show that in the mouse and rat larynx, USVs are produced by a glottal jet impinging on the thyroid inner wall. Furthermore, we implemented an empirically based motor control model that predicts motor gesture trajectories of USV call types. Conclusions Our results identify wall impingement as the aerodynamic mechanism of USV production in rats and mice. Furthermore, our empirically based motor control model shows that both neural and anatomical components contribute to USV production, which suggests that changes in strain specific USVs or USV changes in disease models can result from both altered motor programs and laryngeal geometry. Our work provides a quantitative neuromechanical framework to evaluate the contributions of brain and body in shaping USVs and a first step in linking descending motor control to USV production.

Aerodynamics and motor control of ultrasonic vocalizations for social communication in mice and rats

Rodent ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) are crucial to their social communication and a widely used translational tool for linking gene mutations to behavior. To maximize the causal interpretation of experimental treatments, we need to understand how neural control affects USV production. However, both the aerodynamics of USV production and its neural control remain poorly understood. Here we test three intralaryngeal whistle mechanisms - the wall and alar edge impingement, and shallow cavity tone - by combining in vitro larynx physiology and individual-based 3D airway reconstructions with fluid dynamics simulations. Our results show that in the mouse and rat larynx USVs are produced by a glottal jet impinging on the thyroid inner wall. Furthermore, we implemented an empirically based motor control model that predicts motor gesture trajectories of USV call types. Our work provides a quantitative neuromechanical framework to evaluate the contributions of brain and body in shaping USVs, and a first step in linking descending motor control to USV production.

Numerical Study of Strong Interplay Between Cavity and Store During Launching

Numerical investigation of the strong interplay between a cavity and a store under supersonic inflow condition is conducted by using Improved Delayed Detach-Eddy Simulation (IDDES). Pressure fluctuations in the cavity are analyzed with smooth pseudo Winger-Vile distribution method and the time-frequency features are obtained. The effects of fluctuating flow inside the cavity on the aerodynamic loads of the store are also studied. It was shown that when the store is falling through the shear layer, the self-sustained oscillation loop is destroyed and the cavity tone vanishes. Vortex structures concentrate in the back of the cavity, as a result the noise levels at the rear of the cavity increase. After the store falls out of the cavity, the oblique shock wave formed at store's head interferences with the shear layer, which changes the cavity tone frequencies. The forces and moments acting on the store fluctuate strongly influenced by highly unsteady flow-field. Affected by oblique shock and the impact of shear layer, the store's pitch up angle keeps rising up and reaches to 24° at its maximum.

Effects of Freestream Turbulence on Cavity Tone and Sound Source

To clarify the effects of freestream turbulence on cavity tones, flow and acoustic fields were directly predicted for cavity flows with various intensities of freestream turbulence. The freestream Mach number was 0.09 and the Reynolds number based on the cavity length was 4.0 × 104. The depth-to-length ratio of the cavity,D/L, was 0.5 and 2.5, where the acoustic resonance of a depth-mode occurs forD/L= 2.5. The incoming boundary layer was laminar. The results for the intensity of freestream turbulence of Tu = 2.3% revealed that the reduced level of cavity tones in a cavity flow with acoustic resonance(D/L=2.5)was greater than that without acoustic resonance(D/L=0.5). To clarify the reason for this, the sound source based on Lighthill’s acoustic analogy was computed, and the contributions of the intensity and spanwise coherence of the sound source to the reduction of the cavity tone were estimated. As a result, the effects of the reduction of spanwise coherence on the cavity tone were greater in the cavity flow with acoustic resonance than in that without resonance, while the effects of the intensity were comparable for both flows.