Acoustical cues for perception of emotional vocalizations in rats
Acoustical cues for perception of emotional vocalizations in rats
复制标题
大鼠情绪发声感知的声学线索
DOI：
10.1038/s41598-019-46907-0
复制
发表时间：
2019
影响因子：
4.6
通讯作者：
Okanoya Kazuo
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Saito Yumi;Tachibana Ryosuke O.;Okanoya Kazuo
大鼠的超声波发声可以向听者传递情感状态。例如，大鼠通常在社交情况下以较高频率范围产生较短的呼叫（愉快呼叫：PC），而它们在遇险情况下以较低频率发出较长的呼叫（遇险呼叫：DC）。了解哪些声学特征有助于这两种声音之间的听觉辨别，将有助于更好地表征大鼠对发声声音的听觉感知。反过来，这可能会导致更好地估计模型处理发声的感觉系统一般。在这里，使用一个操作性的歧视程序，我们研究了各种声学特征的影响，区分情感超声发声。我们通过系统地交换两个情感呼叫之间的三个特征（频率范围，持续时间和剩余频率调制模式）来做到这一点。训练大鼠区分PC和DC后，我们提出了探针刺激，一个或两个声学特征交换的合成呼叫，并检查大鼠是否判断这些呼叫为PC或DC。结果表明，所有的特征都是重要的区分两种呼叫类型，但频率范围提供了最多的信息的区分。这支持了这一假设，即虽然大鼠利用所有的声学特征来感知情感发声，但它们在很大程度上依赖于频率线索。
The ultrasonic vocalizations of rats can transmit affective states to listeners. For example, rats typically produce shorter calls in a higher frequency range in social situations (pleasant call: PC), whereas they emit longer calls with lower frequency in distress situations (distress call: DC). Knowing what acoustical features contribute to auditory discrimination between these two calls will help to better characterize auditory perception of vocalized sounds in rats. In turn, this could lead to better estimation of models for processing vocalizations in sensory systems in general. Here, using an operant discrimination procedure, we examined the impact of various acoustical features on discriminating emotional ultrasonic vocalizations. We did this by systematically swapping three features (frequency range, time duration, and residual frequency-modulation pattern) between two emotional calls. After rats were trained to discriminate between PC and DC, we presented probe stimuli that were synthesized calls with one or two acoustical features swapped, and examined if the rats judged these calls as either PC or DC. The results revealed that all features were important for discrimination between the two call types, but frequency range provided the most information for discrimination. This supports the hypothesis that while rats utilize all acoustical features to perceive emotional vocalizations, they considerably rely on frequency cues.