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. 2019 Aug;30(5):446-451.
doi: 10.1097/FBP.0000000000000463.

Alterations of acoustic features of 50 kHz vocalizations by nicotine and phencyclidine in rats

Natashia Swalve  1   2 , Michele M Mulholland  3   2 , Ming Li  2
Affiliations

Alterations of acoustic features of 50 kHz vocalizations by nicotine and phencyclidine in rats

Natashia Swalve et al. Behav Pharmacol. 2019 Aug.

Abstract

Ultrasonic vocalizations are widely used to examine affective states in rats, yet relatively few studies explore the acoustic features of vocalizations, especially in relation to drug exposure, and no studies have explored alterations in acoustic features over time. The goal of this study was to examine nicotine- and phencyclidine-induced alterations of bandwidth, duration, and frequency of 50 kHz vocalizations. The minimum and maximum frequency, bandwidth, and duration of calls were examined after 7 days of daily subcutaneous administration of phencyclidine (2.0 mg/kg) and nicotine (0.2 and 0.4 mg/kg) in male Sprague-Dawley rats. Bandwidth was significantly decreased in rats treated with both nicotine (0.2 and 0.4 mg/kg) and phencyclidine. Maximum frequency was lowest on the first day of exposure compared with all other days and was not altered by drug exposure. Call duration was not affected by time or drug exposure. These findings suggest the importance of studying alterations in acoustic features in time, especially those induced by drug exposure.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: none declared

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Rat 50-kHz vocalizations had a lower (a) maximum frequency (Hz) on day one of administration (**p<.01, ***p<.001) but there were no differences (b) in maximum frequency (Hz) between the drug treatments (p>.05).
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Mean bandwidth (Hz) during nicotine administration (a) was smaller in both NIC groups compared to saline (*p<.05) but (b) did not change across the seven days of treatment.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Rat 50-kHz vocalizations had a lower (a) maximum frequency (Hz) on day one of administration (* p<.05, **p<.01), but there was no difference (b) between the PCP and saline treatment groups.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
PCP administration (a) decreased the bandwidth of 50-kHz vocalizations compared to saline administration (*p<.05) and (b) resulted in change across the seven days of administration.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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