Title: | Alarm pheromone does not modulate 22-kHz calls in male rats |
Author(s): | Muyama H; Kiyokawa Y; Inagaki H; Takeuchi Y; Mori Y; |
Address: | "Laboratory of Veterinary Ethology, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan. Electronic address: muyamahi@gmail.com. Laboratory of Veterinary Ethology, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan. Electronic address: akiyo@mail.ecc.u-tokyo.ac.jp. Center for Animal Research and Education, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan. Electronic address: inagaki@care.nagoya-u.ac.jp. Laboratory of Veterinary Ethology, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan. Electronic address: aytake@mail.ecc.u-tokyo.ac.jp. Laboratory of Veterinary Ethology, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan. Electronic address: aymori@mail.ecc.u-tokyo.ac.jp" |
DOI: | 10.1016/j.physbeh.2016.01.009 |
ISSN/ISBN: | 1873-507X (Electronic) 0031-9384 (Linking) |
Abstract: | "Rats are known to emit a series of ultrasonic vocalizations, termed 22-kHz calls, when exposed to distressing stimuli. Pharmacological studies have indicated that anxiety mediates 22-kHz calls in distressed rats. We previously found that exposure to the rat alarm pheromone increases anxiety in rats. Therefore, we hypothesized that the alarm pheromone would increase 22-kHz calls in pheromone-exposed rats. Accordingly, we tested whether exposure to the alarm pheromone induced 22-kHz calls, as well as whether the alarm pheromone increased 22-kHz calls in response to an aversive conditioned stimulus (CS). Rats were first fear-conditioned to an auditory and contextual CS. On the following day, the rats were either exposed to the alarm pheromone or a control odor that was released from the neck region of odor-donor rats. Then, the rats were re-exposed to the aversive CS. The alarm pheromone neither induced 22-kHz calls nor increased 22-kHz calls in response to the aversive CS. In contrast, the control odor unexpectedly reduced the total number and duration of 22-kHz calls elicited by the aversive CS, as well as the duration of freezing. These results suggest that the alarm pheromone does not affect 22-kHz calls in rats. However, we may have found evidence for an appeasing olfactory signal, released from the neck region of odor-donor rats" |
Keywords: | "*Acoustic Stimulation Animals Anxiety Behavior, Animal/*physiology Conditioning, Psychological/physiology Fear/physiology Male *Pheromones Rats Ultrasonics/methods Vocalization, Animal/*physiology 22-kHz calls Alarm pheromone Fear conditioning Ultrasonic;" |
Notes: | "MedlineMuyama, Hiromi Kiyokawa, Yasushi Inagaki, Hideaki Takeuchi, Yukari Mori, Yuji eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't 2016/01/23 Physiol Behav. 2016 Mar 15; 156:59-63. doi: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2016.01.009. Epub 2016 Jan 12" |