Carbachol injections into the nucleus accumbens induce 50 kHz calls in rats

In rats, different types of vocalization can be observed. High frequency vocalizations (so called 50 kHz calls) are believed to indicate an appetitive state of the emitting animal. This is supported by studies demonstrating that infusions of the dopamine agonist amphetamine into the nucleus accumbens (NAC), a key structure for appetitive behaviors, induce 50 kHz calls. Several studies during the last years demonstrated that not only infusions of dopamine agonists such amphetamine but also infusions of acetylcholine receptor agonists into the NAC stimulate the appetitive system. In present study, we tested whether infusions of the unspecific cholinergic agonist carbachol into the NAC are able to induce 50 kHz calls. Indeed, we observed a high number of 50 kHz calls after intra-NAC infusions of carbachol. The main frequency of the these calls was between 40 and 70 kHz, and the duration was mainly between 10 and 50 ms. We hypothesize that acetylcholine transmission within the NAC plays an important role in the induction of those ultrasonic calls indicating an appetitive state.