Recent Studies of Rodent Ultrasonic Vocalizations and Their Use in Experimental Models

Dear Colleagues,

Interest in emission of rodent ultrasonic vocalizations and their biological functions has markedly increased in behavioral neuroscience studies of recent years. Particularly, rat vocalizations were used in studies of vocal expression of emotional states and in numerous animal models of neuropsychiatric diseases and disorders. Usefulness of rat vocalization for these studies was caused by the fact that rats emit two acoustically distinct ultrasonic calls that signal two different internal emotional arousals or states: the aversive or negative state or the positive or appetitive state. By recording and measuring emission of these calls, researchers have insight into animal emotional states and their dysfunctions in pathological conditions. Thus, investigations of emission of ultrasonic vocalizations are useful in studies of emotional disturbances, affective disorders, autism, addiction, developmental abnormalities, and many other pathologies. The Special Issue of Brain Sciences entitled “Recent Studies of Rodent Ultrasonic Vocalizations and their use in experimental models” offers a collection of recent developments in this field, and more importantly, many examples how studies of rat ultrasonic vocalization can be, and are, applied in biobehavioral and neuropsychiatric research. This issue is addressed to professionals in the subfields of behavioral neuroscience.

Prof. Stefan M. Brudzynski
Prof. Jeffrey Burgdorf
Guest Editors

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