Nucleus Accumbens Chemogenetic Inhibition Suppresses Amphetamine-Induced Ultrasonic Vocalizations in Male and Female Rats
Adult rats emit ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) related to their affective states, potentially providing information about their subjective experiences during behavioral neuroscience experiments. If so, USVs might provide an important link between invasive animal preclinical studies and human studie...
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MDPI AG
2021-09-01
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| Series: | Brain Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/11/10/1255 |
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| author | Kate A. Lawson Abigail Y. Flores Rachael E. Hokenson Christina M. Ruiz Stephen V. Mahler |
| author_facet | Kate A. Lawson Abigail Y. Flores Rachael E. Hokenson Christina M. Ruiz Stephen V. Mahler |
| author_sort | Kate A. Lawson |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Adult rats emit ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) related to their affective states, potentially providing information about their subjective experiences during behavioral neuroscience experiments. If so, USVs might provide an important link between invasive animal preclinical studies and human studies in which subjective states can be readily queried. Here, we induced USVs in male and female Long Evans rats using acute amphetamine (2 mg/kg), and asked how reversibly inhibiting nucleus accumbens neurons using designer receptors exclusively activated by designer drugs (DREADDs) impacts USV production. We analyzed USV characteristics using “Deepsqueak” software, and manually categorized detected calls into four previously defined subtypes. We found that systemic administration of the DREADD agonist clozapine-n-oxide, relative to vehicle in the same rats, suppressed the number of frequency-modulated and trill-containing USVs without impacting high frequency, unmodulated (flat) USVs, nor the small number of low-frequency USVs observed. Using chemogenetics, these results thus confirm that nucleus accumbens neurons are essential for production of amphetamine-induced frequency-modulated USVs. They also support the premise of further investigating the characteristics and subcategories of these calls as a window into the subjective effects of neural manipulations, with potential future clinical applications. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T06:41:07Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-13ea589d747645ea9fe23f9f8c9ffeb6 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-3425 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T06:41:07Z |
| publishDate | 2021-09-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Brain Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-13ea589d747645ea9fe23f9f8c9ffeb62023-11-22T17:36:18ZengMDPI AGBrain Sciences2076-34252021-09-011110125510.3390/brainsci11101255Nucleus Accumbens Chemogenetic Inhibition Suppresses Amphetamine-Induced Ultrasonic Vocalizations in Male and Female RatsKate A. Lawson0Abigail Y. Flores1Rachael E. Hokenson2Christina M. Ruiz3Stephen V. Mahler4Department of Neurobiology & Behavior, University of California, Irvine. 1203 McGaugh Hall, Irvine, CA 92697, USADepartment of Neurobiology & Behavior, University of California, Irvine. 1203 McGaugh Hall, Irvine, CA 92697, USADepartment of Neurobiology & Behavior, University of California, Irvine. 1203 McGaugh Hall, Irvine, CA 92697, USADepartment of Neurobiology & Behavior, University of California, Irvine. 1203 McGaugh Hall, Irvine, CA 92697, USADepartment of Neurobiology & Behavior, University of California, Irvine. 1203 McGaugh Hall, Irvine, CA 92697, USAAdult rats emit ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) related to their affective states, potentially providing information about their subjective experiences during behavioral neuroscience experiments. If so, USVs might provide an important link between invasive animal preclinical studies and human studies in which subjective states can be readily queried. Here, we induced USVs in male and female Long Evans rats using acute amphetamine (2 mg/kg), and asked how reversibly inhibiting nucleus accumbens neurons using designer receptors exclusively activated by designer drugs (DREADDs) impacts USV production. We analyzed USV characteristics using “Deepsqueak” software, and manually categorized detected calls into four previously defined subtypes. We found that systemic administration of the DREADD agonist clozapine-n-oxide, relative to vehicle in the same rats, suppressed the number of frequency-modulated and trill-containing USVs without impacting high frequency, unmodulated (flat) USVs, nor the small number of low-frequency USVs observed. Using chemogenetics, these results thus confirm that nucleus accumbens neurons are essential for production of amphetamine-induced frequency-modulated USVs. They also support the premise of further investigating the characteristics and subcategories of these calls as a window into the subjective effects of neural manipulations, with potential future clinical applications.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/11/10/125550 kHz vocalizations22 kHz vocalizationsamphetaminenucleus accumbenschemogeneticsclozapine-n-oxide |
| spellingShingle | Kate A. Lawson Abigail Y. Flores Rachael E. Hokenson Christina M. Ruiz Stephen V. Mahler Nucleus Accumbens Chemogenetic Inhibition Suppresses Amphetamine-Induced Ultrasonic Vocalizations in Male and Female Rats Brain Sciences 50 kHz vocalizations 22 kHz vocalizations amphetamine nucleus accumbens chemogenetics clozapine-n-oxide |
| title | Nucleus Accumbens Chemogenetic Inhibition Suppresses Amphetamine-Induced Ultrasonic Vocalizations in Male and Female Rats |
| title_full | Nucleus Accumbens Chemogenetic Inhibition Suppresses Amphetamine-Induced Ultrasonic Vocalizations in Male and Female Rats |
| title_fullStr | Nucleus Accumbens Chemogenetic Inhibition Suppresses Amphetamine-Induced Ultrasonic Vocalizations in Male and Female Rats |
| title_full_unstemmed | Nucleus Accumbens Chemogenetic Inhibition Suppresses Amphetamine-Induced Ultrasonic Vocalizations in Male and Female Rats |
| title_short | Nucleus Accumbens Chemogenetic Inhibition Suppresses Amphetamine-Induced Ultrasonic Vocalizations in Male and Female Rats |
| title_sort | nucleus accumbens chemogenetic inhibition suppresses amphetamine induced ultrasonic vocalizations in male and female rats |
| topic | 50 kHz vocalizations 22 kHz vocalizations amphetamine nucleus accumbens chemogenetics clozapine-n-oxide |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/11/10/1255 |
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