50-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations do not signal social anhedonia in transgenic DISC1 rats
Seidisarouei,Mohammad Schäble,Sandra van Wingerden,Marijn Trossbach,Svenja V Korth,Carsten Kalenscher,Tobias
Seidisarouei,Mohammad
Schäble,Sandra
van Wingerden,Marijn
Trossbach,Svenja V
Korth,Carsten
Kalenscher,Tobias
Abstract
Patients diagnosed with neuropsychiatric disorders, such as autism and schizophrenia, suffer from disorganized speech. The disrupted-in-schizophrenia 1 (DISC1) protein pathway is considered a risk factor for the development of several psychiatric disorders and plays an important role in the dysregulation of dopamine (DA), which in turn plays an important role in the regulation of ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) in rats. Moreover, the DISC1 protein pathway has been identified as a cause of social anhedonia, that is, a decrease in the drive for social interactions. USVs transmit specific affective information to other rats, with 50-kHz calls indicating a positive affective state in rats. Dysregulation of the dopaminergic system impacts the qualitative and quantitative features of USVs, such as duration, peak frequency, and the call rate. In this study, we thus used a well-established transgenic DISC1 (tgDISC1) rat line to investigate whether the neural (decreased DA levels in the dorsal striatum, amygdala, and hippocampus (HPC)) and behavioral (social anhedonia) features of tgDISC1 rats could be manifested through the modulation of their 50-kHz USVs. Analyses of three features (call rate, duration, and peak frequency) of all 50-kHz revealed no significant differences between groups, suggesting decreased DA levels in the dorsal striatum and amygdala, and HPC may affect social interaction but leave 50-kHz USV production intact.
Description
Funding Information: Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Authors. Brain and Behavior published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.
Date
2023-05
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Keywords
50-kHz USVs, DISC1, non-social reward, social anhedonia, social reward
Citation
Seidisarouei, M, Schäble, S, van Wingerden, M, Trossbach, S V, Korth, C & Kalenscher, T 2023, '50-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations do not signal social anhedonia in transgenic DISC1 rats', Brain and Behavior, vol. 13, no. 5, e2984, pp. 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1002/brb3.2984