Rodent ultrasonic vocal interaction resolved with millimeter precision using hybrid beamforming
Ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) fulfill an important role in communication and navigation in many species. Because of their social and affective significance, rodent USVs are increasingly used as a behavioral measure in neurodevelopmental and neurolinguistic research. Reliably attributing USVs to th...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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eLife Sciences Publications Ltd
2023-07-01
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| Series: | eLife |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://elifesciences.org/articles/86126 |
| _version_ | 1797671592704081920 |
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| author | Max L Sterling Ruben Teunisse Bernhard Englitz |
| author_facet | Max L Sterling Ruben Teunisse Bernhard Englitz |
| author_sort | Max L Sterling |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) fulfill an important role in communication and navigation in many species. Because of their social and affective significance, rodent USVs are increasingly used as a behavioral measure in neurodevelopmental and neurolinguistic research. Reliably attributing USVs to their emitter during close interactions has emerged as a difficult, key challenge. If addressed, all subsequent analyses gain substantial confidence. We present a hybrid ultrasonic tracking system, Hybrid Vocalization Localizer (HyVL), that synergistically integrates a high-resolution acoustic camera with high-quality ultrasonic microphones. HyVL is the first to achieve millimeter precision (~3.4–4.8 mm, 91% assigned) in localizing USVs, ~3× better than other systems, approaching the physical limits (mouse snout ~10 mm). We analyze mouse courtship interactions and demonstrate that males and females vocalize in starkly different relative spatial positions, and that the fraction of female vocalizations has likely been overestimated previously due to imprecise localization. Further, we find that when two male mice interact with one female, one of the males takes a dominant role in the interaction both in terms of the vocalization rate and the location relative to the female. HyVL substantially improves the precision with which social communication between rodents can be studied. It is also affordable, open-source, easy to set up, can be integrated with existing setups, and reduces the required number of experiments and animals. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T21:17:47Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4e21e147ff994efcb0b0e570f2f4062d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2050-084X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T21:17:47Z |
| publishDate | 2023-07-01 |
| publisher | eLife Sciences Publications Ltd |
| record_format | Article |
| series | eLife |
| spelling | doaj.art-4e21e147ff994efcb0b0e570f2f4062d2023-09-28T14:59:33ZengeLife Sciences Publications LtdeLife2050-084X2023-07-011210.7554/eLife.86126Rodent ultrasonic vocal interaction resolved with millimeter precision using hybrid beamformingMax L Sterling0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2114-2265Ruben Teunisse1Bernhard Englitz2https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9106-0356Computational Neuroscience Lab, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, Netherlands; Visual Neuroscience Lab, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, Netherlands; Department of Human Genetics, Radboudumc, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, NetherlandsComputational Neuroscience Lab, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, NetherlandsComputational Neuroscience Lab, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, NetherlandsUltrasonic vocalizations (USVs) fulfill an important role in communication and navigation in many species. Because of their social and affective significance, rodent USVs are increasingly used as a behavioral measure in neurodevelopmental and neurolinguistic research. Reliably attributing USVs to their emitter during close interactions has emerged as a difficult, key challenge. If addressed, all subsequent analyses gain substantial confidence. We present a hybrid ultrasonic tracking system, Hybrid Vocalization Localizer (HyVL), that synergistically integrates a high-resolution acoustic camera with high-quality ultrasonic microphones. HyVL is the first to achieve millimeter precision (~3.4–4.8 mm, 91% assigned) in localizing USVs, ~3× better than other systems, approaching the physical limits (mouse snout ~10 mm). We analyze mouse courtship interactions and demonstrate that males and females vocalize in starkly different relative spatial positions, and that the fraction of female vocalizations has likely been overestimated previously due to imprecise localization. Further, we find that when two male mice interact with one female, one of the males takes a dominant role in the interaction both in terms of the vocalization rate and the location relative to the female. HyVL substantially improves the precision with which social communication between rodents can be studied. It is also affordable, open-source, easy to set up, can be integrated with existing setups, and reduces the required number of experiments and animals.https://elifesciences.org/articles/86126ultrasonic vocalizationssocial interactionvocal communicationsound localization |
| spellingShingle | Max L Sterling Ruben Teunisse Bernhard Englitz Rodent ultrasonic vocal interaction resolved with millimeter precision using hybrid beamforming eLife ultrasonic vocalizations social interaction vocal communication sound localization |
| title | Rodent ultrasonic vocal interaction resolved with millimeter precision using hybrid beamforming |
| title_full | Rodent ultrasonic vocal interaction resolved with millimeter precision using hybrid beamforming |
| title_fullStr | Rodent ultrasonic vocal interaction resolved with millimeter precision using hybrid beamforming |
| title_full_unstemmed | Rodent ultrasonic vocal interaction resolved with millimeter precision using hybrid beamforming |
| title_short | Rodent ultrasonic vocal interaction resolved with millimeter precision using hybrid beamforming |
| title_sort | rodent ultrasonic vocal interaction resolved with millimeter precision using hybrid beamforming |
| topic | ultrasonic vocalizations social interaction vocal communication sound localization |
| url | https://elifesciences.org/articles/86126 |
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