Premoli Marika, Memo Maurizio, Bonini Sara Anna
Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, University of Brescia, Viale Europa 11, Brescia, Italy.
Neural Regen Res. 2021 Jun;16(6):1158-1167. doi: 10.4103/1673-5374.300340.
Mice use ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) to communicate each other and to convey their emotional state. USVs have been greatly characterized in specific life phases and contexts, such as mother isolation-induced USVs for pups or female-induced USVs for male mice during courtship. USVs can be acquired by means of specific tools and later analyzed on the base of both quantitative and qualitative parameters. Indeed, different ultrasonic call categories exist and have already been defined. The understanding of different calls meaning is still missing, and it will represent an essential step forward in the field of USVs. They have long been studied in the ethological context, but recently they emerged as a precious instrument to study pathologies characterized by deficits in communication, in particular neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs), such as autism spectrum disorders. This review covers the topics of USVs characteristics in mice, contexts for USVs emission and factors that modulate their expression. A particular focus will be devoted to mouse USVs in the context of NDDs. Indeed, several NDDs murine models exist and an intense study of USVs is currently in progress, with the aim of both performing an early diagnosis and to find a pharmacological/behavioral intervention to improve patients' quality of life.
小鼠利用超声波发声（USVs）相互交流并传达它们的情绪状态。USVs在特定的生命阶段和情境中已有大量研究，比如幼崽因与母亲分离而发出的USVs，或者在求偶期间雄性小鼠因雌性诱导而发出的USVs。USVs可以通过特定工具获取，并随后基于定量和定性参数进行分析。确实，不同的超声波叫声类别已经存在并被定义。然而，对不同叫声含义的理解仍然欠缺，而这将是USVs领域向前迈出的关键一步。长期以来，它们一直在动物行为学背景下被研究，但最近它们成为了一种宝贵的工具，用于研究以沟通缺陷为特征的疾病，特别是神经发育障碍（NDDs），如自闭症谱系障碍。这篇综述涵盖了小鼠USVs的特征、USVs发出的情境以及调节其表达的因素。特别关注将集中在NDDs背景下的小鼠USVs。确实，存在几种NDDs小鼠模型，目前正在对USVs进行深入研究，目的是进行早期诊断并找到改善患者生活质量的药物/行为干预措施。
