Department of Biomedical Information, Faculty of Life and Medical Sciences, Doshisha University, 1-3 Miyakodani, Tatara, Kyotanabe-city, Kyoto, 610-0321, Japan.
J Acoust Soc Am. 2011 Dec;130(6):4148-57. doi: 10.1121/1.3651815.
The vocalization behavior of Mongolian gerbils, a model animal of auditory physiology, was examined. A pair of gerbils was placed in a chamber, and their species-specific vocalizations and locomotive behaviors were recorded and analyzed. Two types of calls were predominantly produced: high-frequency upward frequency-modulated (HU-FM) calls and low-frequency multi-harmonic frequency-modulated (LM-FM) calls. Emission rates of HU-FM calls significantly decreased as the distance between the two gerbils increased, and playback of simulated HU-FM calls increased the emission rates. Acoustic analysis of HU-FM calls showed that the calls exhibited a stereotypic spectro-temporal structure including a fixed inter-onset interval (100-175 ms) and that individual differences in the frequency could convey the body size of the callers. The timing of HU-FM calls was highly synchronized with jump movements when an animal vocalized while jumping, suggesting the existence of tight locomotor-vocal coupling. Conversely, LM-FM calls were observed only when the gerbils tactilely contacted with each other while fighting over a food. These results suggest that Mongolian gerbils change the rates of call emissions and call types (e.g., LM-FM or HU-FM calls) in response to changes in visual and possibly tactile and auditory information. The functions of both calls are discussed in terms of their acoustic structures.
研究了蒙古沙鼠（一种听觉生理学的模式动物）的发声行为。将一对沙鼠放置在一个腔室中，记录并分析它们特定于物种的发声和运动行为。主要产生了两种类型的叫声：高频上调频（HU-FM）叫声和低频多谐调频（LM-FM）叫声。随着两只沙鼠之间距离的增加，HU-FM 叫声的发射率显著降低，而模拟 HU-FM 叫声的回放增加了发射率。对 HU-FM 叫声的声学分析表明，叫声表现出一种刻板的时频结构，包括固定的起始间隔（100-175 毫秒），并且频率的个体差异可以传达发声者的体型。当动物在跳跃时发声时，HU-FM 叫声的时间与跳跃动作高度同步，这表明存在紧密的运动-发声耦合。相反，只有当沙鼠在争夺食物时相互触摸时才会观察到 LM-FM 叫声。这些结果表明，蒙古沙鼠会根据视觉（可能还有触觉和听觉）信息的变化来改变叫声的发射率和叫声类型（例如，LM-FM 或 HU-FM 叫声）。根据它们的声学结构讨论了这两种叫声的功能。
