ArticleiScience2026
Correlating ultrasonic communication with behavior in a small-scale rat colony living in a naturalistic habitat.
Article in iScience, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Traditional studies of rat communication have focused on a few individuals in simplified laboratory settings, leaving colony-level vocal-behavioral dynamics largely unexplored. Here, we examined the nocturnal lives of a rat colony housed in an enhanced naturalistic habitat (ENH). Using infrared cameras and ultrasound microphones, we recorded 18,412 ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) alongside social behaviors. Analyses revealed structurally distinct USVs not previously characterized statistically or behaviorally. Notably, 22 kHz calls-typically associated with aversion-occurred across multiple social behaviors lacking obvious aversive context. Brief exposure to cat hair elicited uniquely modified 22 kHz calls as rats fled to their burrows, remaining hidden for two days. The introduction of an unfamiliar caged rat, and the disruption of the colony's social structure then showed how social stressors alter vocal-behavioral dynamics. These findings reveal the structured and context-sensitive nature of rat vocal communication, establishing the ENH as a powerful model for studying social-vocal behavior.
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