Effect of Sociosexual Experience and Aging on Number of Courtship Ultrasonic Vocalizations in Male Mice
Effect of Sociosexual Experience and Aging on Number of Courtship Ultrasonic Vocalizations in Male Mice
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DOI：
10.2108/zs170175
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发表时间：
2018-06-01
影响因子：
0.9
通讯作者：
Kikusui, Takefumi
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Kanno, Kouta;Kikusui, Takefumi
性行为是本能地表现出来的，没有事先的训练，但它们是由经验调节的。求偶超声波发声是雄性小鼠求偶前的行为之一，近年来引起了学术界的广泛关注。雄性老鼠在遇到雌性老鼠时会发出超声波作为求爱行为。然而，经验对USVs的调节作用尚不清楚。在本研究中，我们旨在阐明社会性经验和年龄对成年男性发声的影响。首先，我们研究了老化的影响。无人驾驶汽车的数量呈年龄依赖性下降。此后，将年轻成年雄性小鼠与正常雌性小鼠或卵巢切除（OVX）雌性小鼠共饲养两周，或在没有雌性小鼠的情况下饲养，并比较共饲养前后求爱USV的数量。在与正常或OVX雌性动物一起饲养的雄性动物中，共同饲养后USV显著增加。相比之下，在没有雌性的情况下圈养的雄性动物未表现出USV的显著增加。在老年雄性小鼠中也观察到与雌性小鼠共居对发声的促进作用。此外，女性作为共同住房的合作伙伴怀孕，生殖率可能与观察到的声音活动的合作伙伴的男性。这些结果表明，社会性经验和老化影响发声活动，这可能与求偶和/或生殖功能。
Sexual behaviors are instinctually exhibited without prior training, but they are modulated by experience. One of the precopulatory behaviors in adult male mice, courtship ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs), has attracted considerable academic attention recently. Male mice emit ultrasounds as courtship behavior when encountering females. However, the modulatory effects of experience on USVs remain unclear.In the present study, we aimed to clarify the effects of sociosexual experience and aging on adult male vocalizations. First, we examined the effect of aging. The number of USVs decreased in an age-dependent manner. Following this, young adult male mice were co-housed for two weeks with normal female mice or ovariectomized (OVX) female mice, or housed without female mice, and the number of courtship USVs before and after co-housing were compared. In males housed with normal or OVX females, USVs increased significantly after co-housing. In contrast, males housed without females did not exhibit a significant increase of USVs. A facilitative effect of co-housing with female mice on vocalizations was also observed in aged males. In addition, females used as co-housing partners became pregnant, and the reproductive rate may be related to the vocal activity observed in the partnered males. These results indicate that sociosexual experience and aging affect vocalization activity, which may be related to courtship and/or reproductive function.