Modified specific components of conspecific advertisement calls influence behavioral and neural responses in music frogs.

Vocal communication plays a critical role in the transfer and exchange of information among animals. However, it remains unclear how modifications to specific call components simultaneously affect behavioral and neural responses. To address these issues, we conducted phonotaxis experiments and neural signal recordings in Emei music frogs (Nidirana daunchina), exposing them to auditory stimuli with varying degrees of information coherence violations. During the electrophysiological recordings, we also presented stimuli with altered physical properties featuring rising intonation. The phonotaxis experiments showed that females exhibited reduced attraction to altered calls with potential information coherence violations, suggesting that information coherence may influence female choice. Similarly, the electrophysiological experiments indicated a correlation between the amplitudes of the N400 and late positive components (LPC) with information incongruity and altered physical properties, respectively. Notably, the N400 amplitudes increased proportionally with the extent of potential information coherence violations. Given that N400 is a well-established neural indicator for prediction error in perceptual processes, including semantic processing in humans, and considering the significant evolutionary conservation of brain structure and function among vertebrates, these findings suggest that information coherence contained in the calls plays a crucial role in anuran vocal communication.