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Maternal High-Fat Diet and Neonatal LPS Exposure Prolong USV Sequences and Shift Call-Type Repertoires in Neonatal
Mansi Kamlesh Purohit1,2, Ingrid Woo1,2, Mouly Rahman1,2
1Department of Biological Sciences, University of Toronto Scarborough, Toronto, Canada.
Developmental Psychobiology
|March 17, 2026
Summary
Early inflammatory stress in rodent pups, from maternal high-fat diet or LPS exposure, alters ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs). These changes in vocal patterns indicate sensitive markers for neonatal stress.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Animal Behavior
- Developmental Biology
Background:
- Rodent pups use ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) to signal needs for maternal care, crucial for survival.
- Inflammatory stressors like maternal high-fat diet (mHFD) and neonatal lipopolysaccharide (nLPS) impact neurodevelopment and behavior.
- While basic USV features are studied, detailed sonographic and syntax characteristics under stress are less understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of maternal high-fat diet (mHFD) and neonatal lipopolysaccharide (nLPS) exposure on the temporal and syntactic features of rodent pup ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs).
- To evaluate the efficacy of DeepSqueak, a deep learning system, for automated analysis of USVs and compare its accuracy with manual coding.
- To identify sensitive USV markers indicative of early inflammatory stress in neonatal rodents.
Main Methods:
- Utilized DeepSqueak, a deep learning system, for automated, unsupervised classification and analysis of USVs.
- Compared DeepSqueak's automated analysis with manual coding for USV number, duration, and frequency.
- Exposed Long Evans rat pups to maternal high-fat diet (mHFD) and/or neonatal lipopolysaccharide (nLPS) or saline, recording USVs on postnatal day 7 after maternal separation.
Main Results:
- DeepSqueak demonstrated high concordance (97%) with manual USV analysis.
- Maternal high-fat diet (mHFD) significantly increased USV bout duration by 25%.
- Neonatal lipopolysaccharide (nLPS) exposure increased the number of calls per sequence by 30%, with both stressors prolonging sequence durations and altering syntax transition probabilities.
Conclusions:
- Automated analysis using DeepSqueak accurately captures temporal and syntactic features of USVs.
- Maternal high-fat diet and neonatal lipopolysaccharide exposure induce significant alterations in USV temporal and syntactic characteristics.
- These detailed USV features serve as sensitive indicators of early inflammatory stress in neonatal rodents.
