Yu Peng, Yang Minna, Zhao Haochi, Cao Ruidong, Chen Zhuo, Gong Dajie
Institute of Behavioral and Physical Sciences, College of Life Sciences, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou, 730070, Gansu, China.
Institute of Behavioral and Physical Sciences, College of Life Sciences, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou, 730070, Gansu, China.
Physiol Behav. 2020 Oct 1;224:113075. doi: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2020.113075. Epub 2020 Jul 11.
Ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) play an important role in parent-infant interactions during the neonatal period of rodents because of the pups' need to be suckled and protected by their parents. However, studies on the effects of USVs on parental care are focused on maternal behavior, and little data on paternal care are available, with especially few investigations in midday gerbils. In this study, we examined the effects of early social deprivation (ED) on offspring due to USVs and parental behavior responses in midday gerbils (Meriones meridianus). The results indicated that the number of USVs in ED gerbils increased on postnatal day nine (40 calls/minute), whereas the number of gerbils in the parental care (PC) group remained high for up to 2 weeks (46.6 calls/minute), before decreasing. The number of USVs and duration of single syllables from postnatal day 3 to 21 in ED pups were significantly lower than those in PC pups. ED increased maternal licking, grooming behavior, and nest-building, but decreased huddling and exploring behavior. Similarly, ED increased paternal behavior, like nest-building, but reduced exploring and self-grooming. Overall, gerbil pups displayed high levels of USVs and various syllable types before weaning. ED significantly reduced the number of USVs and syllable types, but increased maternal licking, grooming, and paternal nest-building behavior.
超声发声（USVs）在啮齿动物新生儿期的亲子互动中起着重要作用，因为幼崽需要由父母哺乳和保护。然而，关于超声发声对亲代抚育影响的研究主要集中在母性行为上，关于父性行为的数据很少，在子午沙鼠中的研究尤其少。在本研究中，我们研究了早期社会剥夺（ED）对子午沙鼠（Meriones meridianus）后代的影响以及亲代行为反应。结果表明，产后第9天，早期社会剥夺组子午沙鼠的超声发声次数增加（40次/分钟），而亲代抚育（PC）组子午沙鼠的超声发声次数在长达2周的时间内保持较高水平（46.6次/分钟），之后才下降。产后第3天至21天，早期社会剥夺组幼崽的超声发声次数和单音节持续时间显著低于亲代抚育组幼崽。早期社会剥夺增加了母鼠的舔舐、梳理行为和筑巢行为，但减少了蜷缩和探索行为。同样，早期社会剥夺增加了父鼠的筑巢等行为，但减少了探索和自我梳理行为。总体而言，在断奶前，子午沙鼠幼崽表现出高水平的超声发声和各种音节类型。早期社会剥夺显著减少了超声发声次数和音节类型，但增加了母鼠的舔舐、梳理行为以及父鼠的筑巢行为。
