ArticlePloS one2017
Specific 50-kHz vocalizations are tightly linked to particular types of behavior in juvenile rats anticipating play.
Article in PloS one, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers.
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Who cites it
27 citing papers in PubMed.
- Correlating ultrasonic communication with behavior in a small-scale rat colony living in a naturalistic habitat.iScience · 2026Article
- Article
- Alternating self-administration sessions of cocaine and heroin impact drug-related motivation and vocalisations in rats.Psychopharmacology · 2025Article
- Rearing in a Shelved Environment Chronically Modifies Offspring Behaviour and Physiology.The European journal of neuroscience · 2025Article
- Dorsal column pathway is involved in tactile reward-induced affective 50-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations in rats.PloS one · 2025Article
- Juvenile male rats form preferences based on strain when playing in groups but not in pairs.Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience · 2025Article
- Adult rat ultrasonic vocalizations and reward: Effects of propranolol and repeated cocaine administration.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2024Article
- Disentangling developmental effects of play aspects in rat rough-and-tumble play.Biology letters · 2024Article
- Characterizing maternal isolation-induced ultrasonic vocalizations in a gene-environment interaction rat model for autism.Genes, brain, and behavior · 2023Article
- 50-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations do not signal social anhedonia in transgenic DISC1 rats.Brain and behavior · 2023Article
- Comparing the ontogeny, neurobiology, and function of social play in hamsters and rats.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2023Review
- Rats chirp with their mouth full: During an experimental meal, adult male Wistar rats emitted flat ultrasonic vocalisations upon feeding.Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience · 2023Article
- Who's laughing? Play, tickling and ultrasonic vocalizations in rats.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2022Article
- Sex differences in 50 kHz call subtypes emitted during tickling-induced playful behaviour in rats.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Ultrasonic Vocalization Analysis as a Novel Metric to Assess Cage Enrichment in Rats.Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science : JAALAS · 2022Article
- Article
- Excessive Laughter-like Vocalizations, Microcephaly, and Translational Outcomes in theThe Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2021Article
- Maternal immune activation alters the sequential structure of ultrasonic communications in male rats.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2021Article
- Rat 50 kHz Trill Calls Are Tied to the Expectation of Social Interaction.Brain sciences · 2021Article
- Biological Functions of Rat Ultrasonic Vocalizations, Arousal Mechanisms, and Call Initiation.Brain sciences · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Rat ultrasonic vocalizations have been suggested to be either a byproduct of physical movement or, in the case of 50-kHz calls, a means to communicate positive affect. Yet there are up to 14 distinct types of 50-kHz calls, raising issues for both explanations. To discriminate between these theories and address the purpose for the numerous 50-kHz call types, we studied single juvenile rats that were waiting to play with a partner, a situation associated with a high number of 50-kHz calls. We used a Monte-Carlo shuffling procedure to identify vocalization-behavior correlations that were statistically different from chance. We found that certain call types ("split", "composite" and "multi-step") were strongly associated with running and jumping while other call types (those involving "trills") were more common during slower movements. Further, non-locomotor states such as resting and rearing were strongly predictive of a lack of vocalizations. We also found that the various sub-types of USVs can be clustered into 3-4 categories based on similarities in the way they are used. We did not find a one-to-one relationship between any movements and specific vocalizations, casting doubt on the motion byproduct theory. On the other hand, the use of specific calls during specific behaviors is problematic for the affect communication hypothesis. Based on our results, we suggest that ultrasonic calls may serve to coordinate moment-to-moment social interactions.
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