Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Rodent Ultrasonic Vocalizations @rodent-usv.bsky.social · 5d

In mice, rats, and monkeys, a lack of serotonin in the brain leads to impaired maternal affiliation. @tianhuawang.bsky.social now showed that early social enrichment has ameliorating effects but leaves prominent reduction in pup ultrasonic calling untouched.
rdcu.be/eJjtX &
doi.org/10.1016/j.pn...

Socio-affective communication in Tph2-deficient rat pups: communal nesting aggravates growth retardation despite ameliorating maternal affiliation deficits | Molecular Autism

rdcu.be

3 4

Reposted by Rodent Ultrasonic Vocalizations

animal prattle @animal-prattle.bsky.social · 23d

🐀 ultrasonic vocalizations be wildin' 🐀

@nicolasmathevon.bsky.social etc al. use @openacousticdevices.info to study how striped mice use USVs in the wild, new in @currentbiology.bsky.social

See graphical abstract for summary of results (does the work for us 😇) 👇

#bioacoustics
#prattle 💬

Graphical abstract from paper in quoted post

Top panel depicts modulation of vocal repertoire use depending on territorial location

Next panel depicts group& specific information embedded in ultrasonic vocalizations

Bottom panel shows that individuals use this information to adapt their behavioral and vocal response. No behavioral change to groupmate playback, increased vigilance and vocal response to neighbor playback, and in addition to increased vigilance/response, retreat to nest in response to stranger playback

3 4 12

Reposted by Rodent Ultrasonic Vocalizations

Nicolas Mathevon @nicolasmathevon.bsky.social · 25d

www.nature.com/articles/d41...
#bioacoustics

Songs of the striped mouse show who’s friend and who’s foe

Ultrasonic calls, too high for the human ear to detect, convey a wealth of information across the rodent’s territory.

www.nature.com

1 5 14

Reposted by Rodent Ultrasonic Vocalizations

Nicolas Mathevon @nicolasmathevon.bsky.social · 25d

Ultrasonic signals support a large-scale communication landscape in wild mice. 👇 New paper by the ENES Bioacoustics Research Team in @currentbiology.bsky.social

authors.elsevier.com/a/1llMH3QW8S...

authors.elsevier.com

9 25

Reposted by Rodent Ultrasonic Vocalizations

Markus Wöhr @markuswohr.bsky.social · 26d

Fabrice de Chaumont et al. showcase how the integration of ultrasound recording and behavioral analysis can provide novel insight into mouse social behavior, linking ultrasonic calling to urination behavior.

Another great contribution to our special issue:

www.sciencedirect.com/special-issu...

3 3

Rodent Ultrasonic Vocalizations @rodent-usv.bsky.social · 26d

Separation-induced ultrasonic vocalizations in mouse pups are modulated by attachment and tightly linked to the activity of hypothalamic oxytocin neurons. New @science.org study by Zelmanoff et al. from the @oyiz.bsky.social lab.

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Oxytocin signaling regulates maternally directed behavior during early life

Oxytocin is essential in shaping social behavior across the lifespan. Although the role of oxytocin signaling in parental care has been widely investigated, little is known about its function in socia...

www.science.org

Reposted by Rodent Ultrasonic Vocalizations

Ann Clemens @annmclemens.bsky.social · Aug 5

late to share, but still exciting 🤩 our latest paper is now published tinyurl.com/2s4zecr9

✨Ontogeny of tactile, vocal and kinship dynamics in rat pup huddling

👏 great work team
@flor-bela.bsky.social
@hughtakemoto.bsky.social
@kinshiplab.bsky.social

11 32

Reposted by Rodent Ultrasonic Vocalizations

Markus Wöhr @markuswohr.bsky.social · Jun 23

Can we study placebo effects in rodents? At the @sipsplacebo.bsky.social‬ ECR Summer School in Kraków, Poland, I was proposing that we can do so by using ultrasonic vocalizations as a key element of the anticipatory response. Thanks for the great round table discussions, ‪@sfb-trr-289.bsky.social‬!

3 10

Reposted by Rodent Ultrasonic Vocalizations

animal prattle @animal-prattle.bsky.social · Jul 26

Fantastic urban ecology from ralphpeterson.bsky.social et al!

1. Fieldwork on free-ranging rats in NYC
2. Thermal imaging and ultrasonic audio
3. Social vocalizations across contexts

“We transfer AI-driven methods…to the study of rats in the wild”

doi.org/10.1101/2025...

#prattle💬
#bioacoustics

Figure 2: Groups of rats foraging in NYC environments observed using thermal imaging. Colored outlines correspond to sidewalk, park, and subway sites indicated in Figure 1A. (A) Photo of data acquisition setup, with overlayed schematic of data sources (B) (top) RGB image of an area where rats were observed foraging in Central Park, New York, NY. Gray outline indicates field of view for thermal imaging camera. (bottom) Frame from a thermal video of rats foraging in the area outlined above. (C) RGB image of a subway scene in NYC where rats were observed foraging, together with selected thermal video frames showing rats. (D) RGB image of a street scene in NYC where rats were observed foraging, together with selected thermal video frames showing rats. (E) RGB image of a park scene at night with dense underbrush behind a fence, and thermal image of rats foraging in this scene

1 6 12

Reposted by Rodent Ultrasonic Vocalizations

bioRxiv Neuroscience @biorxiv-neursci.bsky.social · Dec 15

Prenatal exposure to valproic acid reduces synaptic δ-catenin levels and disrupts ultrasonic vocalization in neonates https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.12.14.571709v1

Valproic acid (VPA) is an effective and commonly prescribed drug for epilepsy and bipolar disorder.

www.biorxiv.org

1

Reposted by Rodent Ultrasonic Vocalizations

International Society for Neuroethology @neuroethology.org · Jan 18

A new study investigated the influence of the motor cortex on controlling ultrasonic vocalization in rats and how it is connected with the periaqueductal gray matter. https://www.eneuro.org/content/11/4/ENEURO.0452-23.2024.long

Characterization of Ultrasonic Vocalization-Modulated Neu...

Vocalization, a means of social communication, is prevale...

www.eneuro.org

1

Reposted by Rodent Ultrasonic Vocalizations

Nick Jourjine @nickjourjine.bsky.social · Jun 18

Next we looked at vocalizations w/ 6,000 hrs of RFID box audio (thanks @openacousticdevices.info!) + ML to find vocal events

Takeaways:
1. Vocalization is seasonal: most in spring/summer when social groups are small
2. Wild mice use both audible squeaks & ultrasonic calls, often close together

4/8

(Top) Percentage of recorded minutes with at least one squeak versus recording start date (mmdd). ANOVA: percentage of minutes with squeak ~ season, p < 0.001. Letters indicate seasons that differ significantly by Tukey post hoc test (p < 0.05). (Bottom) Percentage of minutes with at least one USV versus recording start date. ANOVA: percentage of minutes with USV ~ season, p < 0.001. Letters indicate seasons that differ significantly by Tukey post hoc test (p < 0.05)

1 1 4

Reposted by Rodent Ultrasonic Vocalizations

bioRxiv Pharmacology and Toxicology @biorxiv-pharma.bsky.social · Aug 26

Disruption of ultrasonic vocalization with systemic administration of the non-competitive N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor antagonist MK-801 in adult male mice https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.08.25.609588v1

Vocal communication is essential for survival in many animals, including humans. Mice produce ultras

www.biorxiv.org

1

Reposted by Rodent Ultrasonic Vocalizations

International Society for Neuroethology @neuroethology.org · Jan 18

J Neurosci: Foxp2 Mediates Sex Differences in Ultrasonic Vocalization by Rat Pups and Directs Order of Maternal.. http://bit.ly/XrJB3C

1

Reposted by Rodent Ultrasonic Vocalizations

Nick Jourjine @nickjourjine.bsky.social · Jun 18

Very happy to share the latest from my postdoc‬!

10 yrs of mouse social networks + 1.25 yrs of acoustic data ➡️ insight into vocalization & sociality in a wild population of your favorite lab model 🐁

paper: bit.ly/4n93yyD
data: bit.ly/4lfFBEk
code: bit.ly/4kNnMwx

#bioacoustics #neuroskyence

1/8

Graphical abstract for "Vocal communication is seasonal in social groups of wild, free-living house mice."

The abstract has, from top to bottom, a title, four middle image panels, and two bottom text panels.

Image title: "Vocal communication in social groups of wild-free living house mice"

Middle image panels from left to right: (1) An aerial snap shot of the region where the study site is located, an agricultural landscape in rural Switzerland. (2) An image of the study site, a small barn in the forest inhabited by mice. (3) An image of a radio frequency identification (RFID) box used to track mouse social interactions. A mouse is entering the box from the left while another sits outside. (4) A spectrogram showing example vocalizations - one low frequency squeak and one ultrasonic call - recorded from an RFID box.

Bottom panels:
Left: Data Collection
- 10 years of RFID-based tracking data (from 6,946 mice)
- 15 months of acoustic monitoring (totaling 6,594 hours)
- Machine learning for vocal detection and labeling (CNN)

Right: Key Findings
- Vocalization is seasonal (most in spring and summer)
- Vocalization is associated with the presence of pups
- Vocalization is correlated with social group dynamics

4 47 130

Reposted by Rodent Ultrasonic Vocalizations

Markus Wöhr @markuswohr.bsky.social · Aug 1

Good news! Our Behavioural Brain Research special issue on "Ultrasonic Communication in Rodents" is growing. Two new studies are available online!

And an important update: The submission deadline has been extended: 31 October 2025

More information here: www.sciencedirect.com/special-issu...

Behavioural Brain Research | ScienceDirect.com by Elsevier - Behavioural Brain Research | ScienceDirect.com by Elsevier

Read the latest articles of Behavioural Brain Research at ScienceDirect.com, Elsevier’s leading platform of peer-reviewed scholarly literature

www.sciencedirect.com

3 6

Reposted by Rodent Ultrasonic Vocalizations

Markus Wöhr @markuswohr.bsky.social · Aug 1

Good news! Our Behavioural Brain Research special issue on "Ultrasonic Communication in Rodents" is growing. Two new studies are available online!

2) Report on the effects on paracetamol on behavioral and emotional responses displayed by rats in the orofacial formalin test

1

Reposted by Rodent Ultrasonic Vocalizations

Markus Wöhr @markuswohr.bsky.social · Aug 1

Good news! Our Behavioural Brain Research special issue on "Ultrasonic Communication in Rodents" is growing. Two new studies are available online!

1) Report on stress vulnerability in rats characterized by low positive affect as assessed through 50-kHz calls

www.sciencedirect.com/special-issu...

1

Reposted by Rodent Ultrasonic Vocalizations

Ralph Emilio Peterson @ralphpeterson.bsky.social · Jul 25

Finally, we used a wireless ultrasonic mic to record vocalizations. We observed an amazing diversity of calls which have acoustic features that lay outside of the standard distribution reported in the lab. Also, we see interesting usage of the classically negative affect 22 kHz call during foraging.

2 3 14

Reposted by Rodent Ultrasonic Vocalizations

Ralph Emilio Peterson @ralphpeterson.bsky.social · Jul 25

It's hard to interpret observations like this because in the field we cannot control environmental factors that might be causing movement. Instead, we built 3D reconstructions of the environment using gaussian splatting with the goal of building causal models that can link environment + behavior.

1 1 4

Reposted by Rodent Ultrasonic Vocalizations

Ralph Emilio Peterson @ralphpeterson.bsky.social · Jul 25

We noticed periods of coordinated collective movement where some, but not all, animals appeared to participate. We implemented multi-animal tracking and a size-estimation model to show that larger rats move faster and are more likely to participate in collective bursts than smaller animals.

1 1 6

Reposted by Rodent Ultrasonic Vocalizations

Ralph Emilio Peterson @ralphpeterson.bsky.social · Jul 25

Thermal imaging worked great at our sites. High SNR and able to see through vegetation in parks.

1 1 2

Reposted by Rodent Ultrasonic Vocalizations

Ralph Emilio Peterson @ralphpeterson.bsky.social · Jul 25

We mined NYC311 reports of rat sightings to pick a time and place to perform the field studies. We settled on 3 recording locations in distinct environments (subway, park, sidewalk): Union Square Station, Central Park (Ramble), and W 125th St.

1 2 3

Reposted by Rodent Ultrasonic Vocalizations

Ralph Emilio Peterson @ralphpeterson.bsky.social · Jul 25

New preprint!  

tl;dr — We ran around late at night to record wild rats in NYC and figured out how to quantify their behavior and environment. 🧵

w/ Dima Batenkov, @zamakany.bsky.social, Emily Mackevicius

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Computational Urban Ecology of New York City Rats

Urban rats are highly adaptable, thriving in the dynamic and often inhospitable conditions of modern cities. Despite substantial mitigation efforts, they remain an enduring presence in urban environme...

www.biorxiv.org

6 47 140

Reposted by Rodent Ultrasonic Vocalizations

Markus Wöhr @markuswohr.bsky.social · Nov 24

Working on ultrasonic vocalizations? Together with Dr. Elodie Ey, I am serving as guest editor for a Behavioural Brain Research special issue on Ultrasonic Communication in Rodents. We are more than happy to learn about your most recent discoveries. Please feel free to reach out to us.

1 11 21