The effects of unfamiliar male odor during squeak playback on male mouse vocalizations


SOCIETY FOR INTEGRATIVE AND COMPARATIVE BIOLOGY
2021 VIRTUAL ANNUAL MEETING (VAM)
January 3 – Febuary 28, 2021

Meeting Abstract


99-8  Sat Jan 2  The effects of unfamiliar male odor during squeak playback on male mouse vocalizations Brunner, LR*; Hurley, LM; Indiana University; Indiana University laribrun@iu.edu https://twitter.com/laurenrbrunner

During courtship interactions, house mouse vocal behavior is highly context-dependent. Ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) are prosocial signals used by male house mice during courtship. Males modulate their USV production in response to external factors, including signals from conspecifics. Female house mice often produce negatively valenced broadband vocalizations (BBVs), or squeaks, when rejecting the advances of a male during courtship. In response to female BBVs, male mice decrease their USV production. Using a paradigm that allows us to observe male behavior and vocalizations during a courtship interaction with limited contact between the male and female, we measured the response of dominant and subordinate males to situations with varying conspecific odor cues. We employed a 15-minute playback consisting of 5 minutes of silence, followed by 5 minutes of exemplar BBV playback, and finally another 5 minutes of silence to see how USV production changes in response to playback of BBVs. Both dominant and subordinate males experienced this playback in two different conditions: the female control (F) condition in which odor cues (in the form of soiled bedding) from a female mouse were present, and the female plus male (FM) condition in which odor cues from a female and from unfamiliar male mice were present. We hypothesized that dominants would decrease their USV output less than subordinates in the FM condition due to dominants expending more energy in response to a potential social competition threat. All males except one, regardless of their social hierarchical status, decreased their total USV production during the interaction in which unfamiliar male odor was present. This indicates that unfamiliar male scent during perception of courtship rejection signals decreases male mouse vocal output, and this effect is independent of hierarchical status.

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