Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, United States of America.
Center for the Integrative Study of Animal Behavior, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2023 Jan 5;18(1):e0273742. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0273742. eCollection 2023.
Although male vocalizations during opposite- sex interaction have been heavily studied as sexually selected signals, the understanding of the roles of female vocal signals produced in this context is more limited. During intersexual interactions between mice, males produce a majority of ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs), while females produce a majority of human-audible squeaks, also called broadband vocalizations (BBVs). BBVs may be produced in conjunction with defensive aggression, making it difficult to assess whether males respond to BBVs themselves. To assess the direct effect of BBVs on male behavior, we used a split-cage paradigm in which high rates of male USVs were elicited by female presence on the other side of a barrier, but which precluded extensive male-female contact and the spontaneous production of BBVs. In this paradigm, playback of female BBVs decreased USV production, which recovered after the playback period. Trials in which female vocalizations were prevented by the use of female bedding alone or of anesthetized females as stimuli also showed a decrease in response to BBV playback. No non-vocal behaviors declined during playback, although digging behavior increased. Similar to BBVs, WNs also robustly suppressed USV production, albeit to a significantly larger extent. USVs suppression had two distinct temporal components. When grouped in 5-second bins, USVs interleaved with bursts of stimulus BBVs. USV suppression also adapted to BBV playback on the order of minutes. Adaptation occurred more rapidly in males that were housed individually as opposed to socially for a week prior to testing, suggesting that the adaptation trajectory is sensitive to social experience. These findings suggest the possibility that vocal interaction between male and female mice, with males suppressing USVs in response to BBVs, may influence the dynamics of communicative behavior.
尽管异性间相互作用时雄性发出的声音作为性选择信号已得到深入研究，但对于这种情况下雌性发出的声音信号的作用，我们的了解还比较有限。在雌雄小鼠相互作用过程中，雄性会发出大多数超声波（ultrasonic vocalizations，USVs），而雌性会发出大多数人类可听到的 squeaks，也称为宽带发声（broadband vocalizations，BBVs）。BBVs 可能与防御性攻击同时产生，这使得难以评估雄性是否对 BBVs 本身做出反应。为了评估 BBVs 对雄性行为的直接影响，我们使用了一种分笼范式，在这种范式中，雌性在障碍物的另一侧存在会引发雄性发出大量 USVs，但会阻止雄性和雌性之间的广泛接触和 BBVs 的自发产生。在这种范式中，播放雌性 BBVs 会减少 USV 的产生，而在播放期结束后又会恢复。在仅使用雌性寝具或麻醉雌性作为刺激物来防止雌性发声的试验中，对 BBV 播放的反应也会减少。在播放期间，没有非发声行为下降，尽管挖掘行为增加。类似于 BBVs，WNs 也强烈抑制 USV 的产生，尽管抑制程度要大得多。USV 抑制有两个不同的时间成分。当按 5 秒的时间窗分组时，USVs 与刺激 BBVs 的爆发交织在一起。USV 抑制也会在几分钟的时间内适应 BBV 播放。与之前在测试前一周单独饲养或社交饲养的雄性相比，个体饲养的雄性的适应速度更快，这表明适应轨迹对社交经验敏感。这些发现表明，雌雄小鼠之间的发声相互作用可能会影响交流行为的动态，雄性可能会抑制对 BBVs 的 USVs。
