Mice mainly communicate in two ways: via human-audible squeaks when experiencing pain or fear; or through higher-frequency ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) used during courtship and other social interactions. According to a new study, these two different vocalization types are controlled by distinct neural circuits. The researchers at Cornell University showed that TRAP2-mediated ablation of a specialized population of midbrain periaqueductal gray neurons impaired USV production in male and female mice but had no effect on the production of squeaks. The findings suggest that in mice, and likely other animals, different populations of midbrain neurons control different types of vocalizations, rather than individual neurons contributing to multiple vocalization types. A better understanding of how the brain is organized to control vocalization could reveal how diseases can damage those neural circuits and guide the development of treatments.

Original reference: Ziobro, P. et al. Curr. Biol. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2024.01.016 (2024)

老鼠主要通过两种方式进行交流：当经历疼痛或恐惧时，通过人类可听到的吱吱声；或者通过在求爱和其他社交互动期间使用的高频超声波发声（USV）。根据一项新的研究，这两种不同的发声类型是由不同的神经回路控制的。康奈尔大学的研究人员表明，TRAP2 介导的中脑导水管周围灰色神经元特殊群体的消融会损害雄性和雌性小鼠 USV 的产生，但对吱吱声的产生没有影响。研究结果表明，在小鼠以及可能的其他动物中，不同的中脑神经元群控制不同类型的发声，而不是单个神经元控制多种发声类型。更好地了解大脑如何组织来控制发声可以揭示疾病如何损害这些神经回路并指导治疗的发展。

原始参考文献： Ziobro, P. et al. 电流。生物。https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2024.01.016（2024）