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Updated: Jul 17, 2026
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Neurodevelopmental Reflex Testing in Neonatal Rat Pups
Published on: April 24, 2017
Do infant rats cry?
1Department of Psychology, Program in Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242, USA. mark-blumberg@uiowa.edu
Psychological Review
|February 24, 2001
Summary
Rat pups
Area of Science:
- Animal behavior
- Mammalian physiology
- Bioacoustics
Background:
- Distress vocalizations in mammalian infants are of research interest.
- Rat pup ultrasonic vocalizations are commonly studied.
- Previous interpretations focused on communication or distress.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the cardiovascular origins and effects of rat pup ultrasonic vocalizations.
- To propose an alternative hypothesis for the function of these vocalizations.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of cardiovascular parameters during vocalization.
- Investigation of the abdominal compression reaction (ACR).
Main Results:
- Rat pup ultrasonic vocalizations may be an acoustic byproduct of the abdominal compression reaction (ACR).
- The ACR increases venous return to the heart.
Conclusions:
- Rat pup ultrasonic vocalizations might serve a physiological function, similar to a sneeze.
- This challenges previous interpretations of these vocalizations as solely communicative or distress signals.
