Journal article
Discrimination of ultrasonic vocalizations by CBA/CaJ mice (Mus musculus) is related to spectrotemporal dissimilarity of vocalizations
PloS one, Vol.9(1), pp.e85405-e85405
2014
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/110604
PMCID: PMC3887032
PMID: 24416405
Abstract
The function of ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) produced by mice (Mus musculus) is a topic of broad interest to many researchers. These USVs differ widely in spectrotemporal characteristics, suggesting different categories of vocalizations, although this has never been behaviorally demonstrated. Although electrophysiological studies indicate that neurons can discriminate among vocalizations at the level of the auditory midbrain, perceptual acuity for vocalizations has yet to be determined. Here, we trained CBA/CaJ mice using operant conditioning to discriminate between different vocalizations and between a spectrotemporally modified vocalization and its original version. Mice were able to discriminate between vocalization types and between manipulated vocalizations, with performance negatively correlating with spectrotemporal similarity. That is, discrimination performance was higher for dissimilar vocalizations and much lower for similar vocalizations. The behavioral data match previous neurophysiological results in the inferior colliculus (IC), using the same stimuli. These findings suggest that the different vocalizations could carry different meanings for the mice. Furthermore, the finding that behavioral discrimination matched neural discrimination in the IC suggests that the IC plays an important role in the perceptual discrimination of vocalizations.
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Details
- Title
- Discrimination of ultrasonic vocalizations by CBA/CaJ mice (Mus musculus) is related to spectrotemporal dissimilarity of vocalizations
- Creators
- Erikson G Neilans - Department of Psychology, University at Buffalo, the State University of New York, Buffalo, New York, United States of AmericaDavid P Holfoth - Department of Psychology, University at Buffalo, the State University of New York, Buffalo, New York, United States of AmericaKelly E Radziwon - Department of Psychology, University at Buffalo, the State University of New York, Buffalo, New York, United States of AmericaChristine V Portfors - School of Biological Sciences, Washington State University-Vancouver, Vancouver, Washington, United States of AmericaMicheal L Dent - Department of Psychology, University at Buffalo, the State University of New York, Buffalo, New York, United States of America
- Publication Details
- PloS one, Vol.9(1), pp.e85405-e85405
- Academic Unit
- Office of the Provost
- Publisher
- United States
- Grant note
- DC009483 / NIDCD NIH HHS DC012302 / NIDCD NIH HHS R01 DC012302 / NIDCD NIH HHS R03 DC009483 / NIDCD NIH HHS
- Identifiers
- 99900547493201842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article