Ultrasonic vocalizations in rats anticipating circadian feeding schedules

Maternal immune activation alters bout structure of rat 50-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations

Dysfunctional sequencing of behaviour and cognition is observed in schizophrenia across multiple domains, including during communication. We examined whether maternal immune activation (MIA), a risk factor for schizophrenia, disrupted the sequential organization of ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) in a rat model. We analysed the structure of bursts of 50-kHz USVs (bouts) in two independent datasets (paired-rat: 19 control, 18 MIA; reward paradigm: 18 control, 20 MIA), using a Damerau-Levenshtein analysis with a k-fold cross-validation procedure. MIA animals showed greater variability in their bout sequences in both datasets, with lower Levenshtein similarity index (LSI) scores compared to control animals. Notably, MIA set median sequences were more similar to control bout sequences than to their own group's sequences, suggesting a breakdown in sequential organization. Additionally, we found an alteration to 50-kHz USV transitional preferences in MIA in a reward context. While sequence structure was altered, basic call production and call-type distribution remained largely intact across groups. These findings demonstrate that MIA specifically appears to affect the organization of vocal sequences at the bout level, while largely preserving basic vocalization patterns. This work extends our understanding of the effects of maternal infection during pregnancy, and how this can lead to altered communication sequences that are relevant to schizophrenia risk.

Molecular changes, histopathology, and ultrasonic vocalization acoustic profiles of systemically dehydrated rats

Systemic hydration is known to promote optimal functioning of bodily systems-including the vocal folds. The impact of systemic dehydration on the biology of the vocal folds and the downstream effects of dehydration on voice output are not well understood. An in vivo rat model of systemic dehydration was employed to investigate vocal fold gene expression, histological changes, and acoustic changes in vocalization. Ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) were recorded every day for 5 days (baseline), in male and female Long-Evans rats (N = 36, ages: 3-4 months) using an anticipatory reward paradigm. Next, rats were dehydrated (N = 18) using a published water-restriction model for 5 days or euhydrated (N = 18) and provided ad libitum access to water for 5 days. USVs were recorded daily during the dehydration/euhydration period. The USV variables were averaged at baseline and following dehydration/euhydration for individual animals, and the difference between these time periods was used for statistical analysis. USV analysis included total USV count, complexity ratio, duration (s), frequency range (kHz), and maximum intensity (dB). At the end of dehydration/euhydration, animals were euthanized, and kidney and vocal fold tissue samples were dissected and processed for histology and gene expression analysis. Compared to euhydrated rats, dehydrated male and female rats had significantly up-regulated gene expression of kidney renin (male p = 0.047; female p = 0.018), indicating physiologic dehydration. There were no statistically significant differences in the USV acoustic profile or histopathology between the two groups. Differential expression (p < 0.05) of several genes related to extracellular matrix remodeling, inflammatory responses, and water ion transport in the vocal folds was present. Our results indicate that mild systemic dehydration impacts gene expression in the vocal fold mucosa; however, these gene expression changes are not evident in the acoustic profile of vocalizations.

22 and 50 kHz rat ultrasonic vocalization playback reveals sex differences in behavior and cFos in brain regions associated with affective processing

Adult rats communicate using ultrasonic vocalization (USV) frequencies indicating negative (22 kHz) or positive (50 kHz) affective states. Playback of USVs can serve as an ethologically translational method to study affective processing in response to socially communicated states. However, few studies have examined behavioral and neural effects of USV playback in both male and female rats. Here, adult male and female Sprague-Dawley rats experienced a 20-min open field test (OFT) with either silence, 22 kHz, or 50 kHz recorded USV playback. Center exploration and locomotor activity were analyzed to characterize sex differences in playback effects. Results suggest that females display greater sensitivity to frequency-specific effects of USV playback in this paradigm compared to males. 50 kHz USV playback evoked an immediate increase in center exploration and locomotor activity in females, indicating the appetitive nature of 50 kHz USVs. Initially, 22 kHz playback inhibited center exploration in the OFT compared to 50 kHz. However, females exhibited a switch in behavioral strategy in response to 22 kHz following prolonged playback. Following OFT, neural activity was quantified via the immediate early gene cFos. Results from cFos quantification showed sex- and region-specific differences in neural recruitment in areas of the brain associated with affective processing, including the prefrontal cortex, amygdala, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, and nucleus accumbens. Taken together, this work provides a normative baseline for understanding how sex influences behavioral and neural responses to USV playback, which can be leveraged to study anxiety, communication, and affect in an ethologically relevant assay.

Rats chirp with their mouth full: During an experimental meal, adult male Wistar rats emitted flat ultrasonic vocalisations upon feeding

Rats produce ultrasonic vocalisation (USVs) that are classified into different types, based on their average frequency. In pups 40 kHz USVs are produced upon social isolation, and in adults USVs can be associated with affective states and specific behavioural patterns (i.e., appetitive 50 kHz vocalisations of frequency range 30-100 kHz, or aversive 20 kHz vocalisations of frequency range 18-30 kHz). Generally, USVs of frequency around 50 kHz are linked to activation of brain reward pathways, during anticipation or experience of rewarding stimuli. Previous studies have described several subtypes of 50 kHz USVs, according to their acoustic properties. We asked whether USV production might be relevant to feeding behaviour. We recorded USVs from 14-week old adult rats during the satisfaction of a physiological need: refeeding following mild food deprivation (17 h overnight fast). We analysed a 10 min consummatory phase, preceded by a 10 min anticipatory phase, as a control for the experimental meal. Following identification of USV subtypes, we applied frequentist and Bayesian (Monte Carlo shuffling) statistical analyses to investigate the relationship between USV emission and rat behaviour. We found that it was not total USV quantity that varied in response to food consumption, but the subtype of USV produced. Most importantly we found that rats who feed tend to produce flat USVs of a frequency around 40 kHz. Beyond the previous reports of circumstantial association feeding-flat USVs, our observation directly correlate vocalisation and ingestive behaviour. Our study highlights that, in addition to quantification of the production rate, study of USV subtypes might inform us further on rat consummatory behaviour. Since this vocalisation behaviour can have a communicative purpose, those findings also illustrate nutrition studies might benefit from considering the possible social dimension of feeding behaviour.

Time to learn: The role of the molecular circadian clock in learning and memory

The circadian system plays an important role in aligning biological processes with the external time of day. A range of physiological functions are governed by the circadian cycle, including memory processes, yet little is understood about how the clock interfaces with memory at a molecular level. The molecular circadian clock consists of four key genes/gene families, Period, Clock, Cryptochrome, and Bmal1, that rhythmically cycle in an ongoing transcription-translation negative feedback loop that maintains an approximately 24-hour cycle within cells of the brain and body. In addition to their roles in generating the circadian rhythm within the brain's master pacemaker (the suprachiasmatic nucleus), recent research has suggested that these clock genes may function locally within memory-relevant brain regions to modulate memory across the day/night cycle. This review will discuss how these clock genes function both within the brain's central clock and within memory-relevant brain regions to exert circadian control over memory processes. For each core clock gene, we describe the current research that demonstrates a potential role in memory and outline how these clock genes might interface with cascades known to support long-term memory formation. Together, the research suggests that clock genes function locally within satellite clocks across the brain to exert circadian control over long-term memory formation and possibly other biological processes. Understanding how clock genes might interface with local molecular cascades in the hippocampus and other brain regions is a critical step toward developing treatments for the myriad disorders marked by dysfunction of both the circadian system and cognitive processes.

Rat 50 kHz Trill Calls Are Tied to the Expectation of Social Interaction

Rats emit a variety of calls in the 40–80 kHz range (50 kHz calls). While these calls are generally associated with positive affect, it is unclear whether certain calls might be used selectively in certain contexts. To examine this, we looked at ultrasonic calls in 30–40 day old male rats during the expectation of either play or food, both of which are reinforcing. Behavior and vocalizations were recorded while rats were in a test chamber awaiting the arrival of a play partner or food over seven days of testing. Control groups were included for the non-specific effects of food deprivation and social isolation. Play reward led to an increase in 50 kHz vocalizations, generally, with specific increases in trill and “trill with jump” calls not seen in other groups. Expectation of food reward did not lead to a significant increase in vocalizations of any type, perhaps due to the young age of our study group. Further, rats that were food deprived for the food expectation study showed markedly lower calls overall and had a different profile of call types compared to rats that were socially isolated. Taken together, the results suggest that trill-associated calls may be used selectively when rats are socially isolated and/or expecting a social encounter.

Piglets vocally express the anticipation of pseudo-social contexts in their grunts

Emotions not only arise in reaction to an event but also while anticipating it, making this context a means of accessing the emotional value of events. Before now, anticipatory studies have rarely considered whether vocalisations carry information about emotional states. We studied both the grunts of piglets and their spatial behaviour as they anticipated two (pseudo)social events known to elicit positive emotions of different intensity: arrival of familiar conspecifics and arrival of a familiar human. Piglets spatially anticipated both pseudo-social contexts, and the spectro temporal features of grunts differed according to the emotional context. Piglets produced low-frequency grunts at a higher rate when anticipating conspecifics compared to anticipating a human. Spectral noise increased when piglets expected conspecifics, whereas the duration and frequency range increased when expecting a human. When the arrival of conspecifics was delayed, the grunt duration increased, whereas when the arrival of the human was delayed, the spectral parameters were comparable to those during isolation. This shows that vocal expressions in piglets during anticipation are specific to the expected reward. Vocal expressions-both their temporal and spectral features- are thus a good way to explore the emotional state of piglets during the anticipation of challenging events.

Using anticipatory and drug-evoked appetitive ultrasonic vocalization for monitoring the rewarding effect of amphetamine in a rat model of drug self-administration

Measuring ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) allows studying psychoactive drug use-related affective states in laboratory rats and may help understand changes underlying the progress of addictions. We aimed at finding an effective scheme for amphetamine self-administration training in rats, identifying factors affecting their anticipatory and drug-evoked, frequency-modulated 50-kHz USV responses, and verifying whether the rewarding action of amphetamine promotes current drug intake during the training. Therefore, we monitored amphetamine intake and anticipatory and drug-evoked USVs in two rat cohorts trained using two different training schemes. Then we retrospectively divided these cohorts into low-amphetamine and high-amphetamine intake subsets and analyzed their frequency-modulated 50-kHz USV responses accordingly. Anticipatory (i.e., drug-context-related) USVs as well as USVs induced by self-administration training-related non-pharmacological manipulations (tested in an additional rat group) showed surprisingly high call rates but faded spontaneously relatively quickly. Only the scheme employing short cycles of training sessions (two instead of six) and intermittent instead of continuous intra-session drug availability yielded long-lasting escalation of amphetamine intake in a sizable subset. This subset showed high initial amphetamine-evoked USV call rate, which suggests that a strong rewarding action of the drug early in the SA training favors intake escalation. A major decrease in the drug-evoked USVs during advanced training indicated the emergence of tolerance to the rewarding action in these rats, a phenomenon that is characteristic of addiction. Frequency-modulated 50-kHz rat USVs are a good index of the rewarding action of amphetamine at the absence of USVs induced by drug context and other training-related factors.

Social isolation alters ultrasonic vocalizations but not thyroarytenoid neuromuscular junctions in old rats

OBJECTIVE

Age-related muscle atrophy of the laryngeal muscles contributes to presbyphonia. Remodeling of the neuromuscular junction is one aspect underlying age-related muscle atrophy. Although muscle disuse has been shown to exacerbate age-related neuromuscular changes in the limb muscles, it is unknown if reduced vocal use has a similar effect in the laryngeal muscles. The objective of this study was to examine the use of social isolation as a novel method to reduce vocal use in old rats-and the impact of that reduced vocal use on ultrasonic vocalization acoustics and neuromuscular junction morphology in the thyroarytenoid muscle.

STUDY DESIGN

Animal group comparison.

METHODS

Old F344/BN rats (31 months of age) were socially isolated (n = 8) or communally housed (n = 8) for 8 weeks. Effect of housing condition on ultrasonic vocalization acoustics was assessed by calculating the changes in vocalization fundamental frequency and amplitude from baseline to 8 weeks. Neuromuscular junction morphology was measured in the lateral and medial portions of the thyroarytenoid muscle at the conclusion of the experiment.

RESULTS

Vocalization amplitude decreased by a mean of -4.4 dB (standard deviation [SD], 4.49) after social isolation, whereas amplitude increased by a mean of 5.7 dB (SD, 5.07) in the communally housed rats (P = 0.002). There was no significant difference in the change in fundamental frequency between groups. Furthermore, there were no group differences in any measure of neuromuscular junction morphology.

CONCLUSION

These results suggest that neuromuscular junctions in the thyroarytenoid muscle of old rats are unaffected by 8 weeks of social isolation, despite functional changes in vocalizations.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

NA Laryngoscope, 129:E9-E14, 2019.

Endocannabinoid and nitric oxide systems of the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus mediate effects of NPY on energy expenditure

Objective

Neuropeptide Y (NPY) is one of the most potent orexigenic peptides. The hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN) is a major locus where NPY exerts its effects on energy homeostasis. We investigated how NPY exerts its effect within the PVN.

Methods

Patch clamp electrophysiology and Ca2+ imaging were used to understand the involvement of Ca2+ signaling and retrograde transmitter systems in the mediation of NPY induced effects in the PVN. Immuno-electron microscopy were performed to elucidate the subcellular localization of the elements of nitric oxide (NO) system in the parvocellular PVN. In vivo metabolic profiling was performed to understand the role of the endocannabinoid and NO systems of the PVN in the mediation of NPY induced changes of energy homeostasis.

Results

We demonstrated that NPY inhibits synaptic inputs of parvocellular neurons in the PVN by activating endocannabinoid and NO retrograde transmitter systems via mobilization of Ca2+ from the endoplasmic reticulum, suggesting that NPY gates the synaptic inputs of parvocellular neurons in the PVN to prevent the influence of non-feeding-related inputs. While intraPVN administered NPY regulates food intake and locomotor activity via NO signaling, the endocannabinoid system of the PVN selectively mediates NPY-induced decrease in energy expenditure.

Conclusion

Thus, within the PVN, NPY stimulates the release of endocannabinoids and NO via Ca²⁺-influx from the endoplasmic reticulum. Both transmitter systems appear to have unique roles in the mediation of the NPY-induced regulation of energy homeostasis, suggesting that NPY regulates food intake, energy expenditure, and locomotor activity through different neuronal networks of this nucleus.

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NPY increases the intracellular Ca²⁺ level of PVN neurons by mobilizing the Ca²⁺ from ER.

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NPY inhibits the input of these neurons by endocannabinoids and NO.

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IntraPVN administered NPY regulates food intake and locomotor activity via NO signaling.

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IntraPVN administered NPY regulates energy expenditure via the endocannabinoid system.

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NPY regulates the energy expenditure and food intake via different neuronal networks of the PVN.

Inter-individual differences in serotonin and glutamate co-transmission reflect differentiation in context-induced conditioned 50-kHz USVs response after morphine withdrawal

A growing body of research provides compelling evidence that in rats 50-kHz USVs are a form of expression of positive emotions. Context-induced 50-kHz USVs emission is variable among rats, indicating individual differences in contextual response bound up with pharmacological reward. The aims of this study were to: extract the most important neurotransmitters related to context-induced conditioned 50-kHz USVs response; find biological basis of existing inter-individual differences in context-induced conditioned 50-kHz USVs response; create a model of all-to-all neurotransmitters correlations. The data collected here confirms that re-exposure to the context of morphine administration after the withdrawal period increases the level of 50-kHz USVs and this contextual response is associated with elevated serotonin concentrations in amygdala, hippocampus and mPFC and with increased Glu/Gln ratio in nucleus accumbens. The concentration of serotonin increases simultaneously in amygdala, nucleus accumbens and hippocampus. Moreover, 5-HT concentration in amygdala is bound up with glutamate level in this structure as well as in hippocampus. Furthermore, Glu/Gln ratio in nucleus accumbens has strong associations with Glu/Gln ratio simultaneously in VTA, amygdala, striatum and hippocampus. All-to-all-analysis indicate that concentration of glutamate in hippocampus is proportional to glutamate in VTA and GABA concentration in the hippocampus. We have also demonstrated that Glu/GABA ratio in VTA and amygdala was elevated after post withdrawal re-exposure to the pharmacological reward paired context. Presented analysis indicates a strong correlation between serotonergic and glutamatergic systems in context-induced conditioned response. The strength of this co-transmission correlates with the number of 50-kHz USVs emitted in response to morphine-paired context.

Exploring the role of locomotor sensitization in the circadian food entrainment pathway

Food entrainment is the internal mechanism whereby the phase and period of circadian clock genes comes under the control of daily scheduled food availability. Food entrainment allows the body to efficiently realign the internal timing of behavioral and physiological functions such that they anticipate food intake. Food entrainment can occur with or without caloric restriction, as seen with daily schedules of restricted feeding (RF) or restricted treat (RT) that restrict food or treat intake to a single feeding time. However, the extent of clock gene control is more pronounced with caloric restriction, highlighting the role of energy balance in regulating clock genes. Recent studies have implicated dopamine (DA) to be involved in food entrainment and caloric restriction is known to affect dopaminergic pathways to enhance locomotor activity. Since food entrainment results in the development of a distinct behavioral component, called food anticipatory activity (FAA), we examined the role of locomotor sensitization (LS) in food entrainment by 1) observing whether amphetamine (AMPH) sensitization results in enhanced locomotor output of FAA and 2) measuring LS of circadian and non-circadian feeding paradigms to an acute injection of AMPH (AMPH cross-sensitization). Unexpectedly, AMPH sensitization did not show enhancement of FAA. On the contrary, LS did develop with sufficient exposure to RF. LS was present after 2 weeks of RF, but not after 1, 3 or 7 days into RF. When food was returned and rats regain their original body weight at 10-15 days post-RF, LS remained present. LS did not develop to RT, nor to feedings of a non-circadian schedule, e.g. variable restricted feeding (VRF) or variable RT (VRT). Further, when RF was timed to the dark period, LS was observed only when tested at night; RF timed to the light period resulted in LS that was present during day and night. Taken together our results show that LS develops with food entrainment to RF, an effect that is dependent on the chronicity and circadian phase of RF but independent of body weight. Given that LS involves reorganization of DA-regulated motor circuitry, our work provides indirect support for the role of DA in the food entrainment pathway of RF. The findings also suggest differences in neuronal pathways involved in LS from AMPH sensitization and LS from RF.

The Effects of Electrical and Optical Stimulation of Midbrain Dopaminergic Neurons on Rat 50-kHz Ultrasonic Vocalizations

Rationale: Adult rats emit ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) at around 50-kHz; these commonly occur in contexts that putatively engender positive affect. While several reports indicate that dopaminergic (DAergic) transmission plays a role in the emission of 50-kHz calls, the pharmacological evidence is mixed. Different modes of dopamine (DA) release (i.e., tonic and phasic) could potentially explain this discrepancy.

Objective: To investigate the potential role of phasic DA release in 50-kHz call emission.

Methods: In Experiment 1, USVs were recorded in adult male rats following unexpected electrical stimulation of the medial forebrain bundle (MFB). In parallel, phasic DA release in the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) was recorded using fast-scan cyclic voltammetry. In Experiment 2, USVs were recorded following response-contingent or non-contingent optogenetic stimulation of midbrain DAergic neurons. Four 20-s schedules of optogenetic stimulation were used: fixed-interval, fixed-time, variable-interval, and variable-time.

Results: Brief electrical stimulation of the MFB increased both 50-kHz call rate and phasic DA release in the NAcc. During optogenetic stimulation sessions, rats initially called at a high rate comparable to that observed following reinforcers such as psychostimulants. Although optogenetic stimulation maintained reinforced responding throughout the 2-h session, the call rate declined to near zero within the first 30 min. The trill call subtype predominated following both electrical and optical stimulation.

Conclusion: The occurrence of electrically-evoked 50-kHz calls, time-locked to phasic DA (Experiment 1), provides correlational evidence supporting a role for phasic DA in USV production. However, in Experiment 2, the temporal dissociation between calling and optogenetic stimulation of midbrain DAergic neurons suggests that phasic mesolimbic DA release is not sufficient to produce 50-kHz calls. The emission of the trill subtype of 50-kHz calls potentially provides a marker distinguishing positive affect from positive reinforcement.

Translational Assessment of Reward and Motivational Deficits in Psychiatric Disorders

Deficits in reward and motivation are common symptoms characterizing several psychiatric and neurological disorders. Such deficits may include anhedonia, defined as loss of pleasure, as well as impairments in anticipatory pleasure, reward valuation, motivation/effort, and reward learning. This chapter describes recent advances in the development of behavioral tasks used to assess different aspects of reward processing in both humans and non-human animals. While earlier tasks were generally developed independently with limited cross-species correspondence, a newer generation of translational tasks has emerged that are theoretically and procedurally analogous across species and allow parallel testing, data analyses, and interpretation between human and rodent behaviors. Such enhanced conformity between cross-species tasks will facilitate investigation of the neurobiological mechanisms underlying discrete reward and motivated behaviors and is expected to improve our understanding and treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders characterized by reward and motivation deficits.