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Updated: Jun 23, 2026
Assessment of Perigenital Sensitivity and Prostatic Mast Cell Activation in a Mouse Model of Neonatal Maternal Separation
Published on: August 13, 2015
Neonatal maternal separation alters reward-related ultrasonic vocalizations in rat dams
Carl W Stevenson1, Paul E Goodwin, Beth Tunstall
1School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Nottingham, Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham NG72UH, UK. carl.stevenson@nottingham.ac.uk
We examined the effects of brief or long durations of repeated maternal separation (MS) on ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) in rat dams. 50-kHz USVs putatively identified as maternal in origin were emitted only immediately after pups were returned following MS. Maternal USV emission also depended on separation duration and pup age. Given that 50-kHz USVs are emitted in response to rewarding stimuli, MS may induce duration-dependent effects on maternal positive affect.
We examined the effects of brief or long durations of repeated maternal separation (MS) on ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) in rat dams. 50-kHz USVs putatively identified as maternal in origin were emitted only immediately after pups were returned following MS. Maternal USV emission also depended on separation duration and pup age. Given that 50-kHz USVs are emitted in response to rewarding stimuli, MS may induce duration-dependent effects on maternal positive affect.
