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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 12, 2026

Determining Ultrasonic Vocalization Preferences in Mice using a Two-choice Playback Test
08:16

Determining Ultrasonic Vocalization Preferences in Mice using a Two-choice Playback Test

Published on: September 3, 2015

Engineered deafness reveals that mouse courtship vocalizations do not require auditory experience.

Elena J Mahrt1, David J Perkel, Ling Tong

  • 1School of Biological Sciences, Washington State University, Vancouver, Washington 98686, USA.

The Journal of Neuroscience : the Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience
|March 29, 2013
PubMed
Summary

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Mice do not require auditory experience during development to produce normal ultrasonic courtship vocalizations. This suggests mouse vocalizations are innate, not learned through auditory feedback.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Animal Behavior
  • Bioacoustics

Background:

  • Auditory experience is crucial for human language acquisition.
  • Vocal learning is established in some non-mammalian species but not definitively in laboratory mammals.
  • Mice are a potential model for studying vocal communication, but whether they learn vocalizations is unknown.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether mice learn their ultrasonic courtship vocalizations through auditory feedback.
  • To compare vocalizations of deaf and hearing male mice during development and adulthood.

Main Methods:

  • CBA/CaJ mice were genetically engineered to express diphtheria toxin (DT) receptors in hair cells.
  • Mice were systemically injected with DT at postnatal day 2 to induce targeted hair cell ablation, causing chronic deafness.

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Recording Mouse Ultrasonic Vocalizations to Evaluate Social Communication
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Recording Mouse Ultrasonic Vocalizations to Evaluate Social Communication

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Eliciting and Analyzing Male Mouse Ultrasonic Vocalization (USV) Songs
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Eliciting and Analyzing Male Mouse Ultrasonic Vocalization (USV) Songs

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Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 12, 2026

Determining Ultrasonic Vocalization Preferences in Mice using a Two-choice Playback Test
08:16

Determining Ultrasonic Vocalization Preferences in Mice using a Two-choice Playback Test

Published on: September 3, 2015

Recording Mouse Ultrasonic Vocalizations to Evaluate Social Communication
10:28

Recording Mouse Ultrasonic Vocalizations to Evaluate Social Communication

Published on: June 5, 2016

Eliciting and Analyzing Male Mouse Ultrasonic Vocalization (USV) Songs
08:44

Eliciting and Analyzing Male Mouse Ultrasonic Vocalization (USV) Songs

Published on: May 9, 2017

  • Auditory brainstem responses were measured to confirm deafness.
  • Vocalizations of deaf and hearing adult male mice were recorded in the presence of a female and analyzed for temporal structure, vocalization types, syllable patterns, and acoustic features.

    • Main Results:

    • Deafened mice exhibited normal hair cell development and auditory brainstem responses.
    • Almost all examined vocalization features, including temporal structure, syllable patterns, and acoustic characteristics, were similar between hearing and deaf male mice.
    • The findings indicate that auditory experience is not necessary for producing normal adult ultrasonic vocalizations.

    Conclusions:

    • Mouse ultrasonic courtship vocalizations are not acquired through auditory feedback-dependent learning.
    • These findings suggest that mouse vocalizations are largely innate rather than learned during development.