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Updated: Jun 3, 2026
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Recording Mouse Ultrasonic Vocalizations to Evaluate Social Communication
Published on: June 5, 2016
Development of social vocalizations in mice
Jasmine M S Grimsley1, Jessica J M Monaghan, Jeffrey J Wenstrup
1Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Northeastern Ohio Universities Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy, Rootstown, Ohio, United States of America. jgrimsley@neoucom.edu
Plos One
|March 17, 2011
Summary
Mouse pup vocalizations mature significantly from postnatal day 5 to adulthood, developing complexity and structure similar to adult mouse calls. This study tracked vocal development, revealing age-related changes in syllable types and sequencing.
Area of Science:
- Animal Behavior
- Bioacoustics
- Developmental Biology
Background:
- Adult mice exhibit complex vocalizations during social interactions.
- Mouse pups produce isolation calls when separated from their nest or experiencing cold.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the developmental trajectory of mouse pup isolation vocalizations.
- To compare pup vocalizations with adult mouse vocalizations.
Main Methods:
- Recorded and analyzed 28,384 vocalizations from CBA/CaJ mouse pups at postnatal days 5, 7, 9, 11, and 13.
- Analyzed syllable types, spectral and temporal features, and sequential structure of vocal bouts.
- Compared pup vocalizations to adult mouse vocalizations recorded in various social contexts.
Main Results:
- Mouse pups produced nearly all adult syllable types, with proportions changing developmentally.
- Young pups (postnatal day 5) already produced complex syllables.
- Vocal bout complexity and sequential structure increased significantly with age, approaching adult patterns by postnatal day 13.
Conclusions:
- Mouse pup vocalizations undergo substantial age-related changes in structure and complexity.
- Further research is needed to determine if these changes are due to vocal tract development, neural control, or vocal learning.
- A MATLAB program was developed to model age-specific mouse vocalization patterns for research purposes.
