Differential patterns of constant frequency 50 and 22 khz usv production are related to intensity of negative affective state.

Adult rat ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) are a valuable tool for noninvasively assessing an animal's emotional state. USVs are produced in 1 of 2 frequency ranges labeled as 22 kHz or 50 kHz vocalizations. One USV subtype within the 50 kHz call category, constant frequency 50 kHz (CF 50 kHz) calls, is not viewed as signaling an emotional state.

HVC contributes toward conspecific contact call responding in male Bengalese finches.

The processes of producing and acquiring birdsong, like human speech, utilize interdependent neural systems for vocal learning and production. In addition to song, these brain areas are undoubtedly used for other affiliative behaviors. Oscine sound production is lateralized because their vocal organ contains two independently controlled sound sources.

Need to train your rat? There is an App for that: a touchscreen behavioral evaluation system.

The increasing demand for highly automated and flexible tasks capable of assessing visual learning and memory in nonhuman animals has led to the exciting development of a wide array of prefabricated touchscreen-equipped systems. However, the high cost of these prefabricated systems has led many researchers to develop or modify their own preexisting equipment. We developed a freely downloadable App, the Touchscreeen Behavioral Evaluation System (TBES) for use in conjunction with an iPad (Apple, Cupertino, California) as an alternative to prefabricated touchscreen systems.

Exploring vocal recovery after cranial nerve injury in Bengalese finches.

Songbirds and humans use auditory feedback to acquire and maintain their vocalizations. The Bengalese finch (Lonchura striata domestica) is a songbird species that rapidly modifies its vocal output to adhere to an internal song memory. In this species, the left side of the bipartite vocal organ is specialized for producing louder, higher frequencies (≥2.

Syringeal specialization of frequency control during song production in the Bengalese finch (Lonchura striata domestica).

Background: Singing in songbirds is a complex, learned behavior which shares many parallels with human speech. The avian vocal organ (syrinx) has two potential sound sources, and each sound generator is under unilateral, ipsilateral neural control. Different songbird species vary in their use of bilateral or unilateral phonation (lateralized sound production) and rapid switching between left and right sound generation (interhemispheric switching of motor control).