Individual differences in the conditioned and unconditioned rat 50 kHz ultrasonic vocalizations elicited by repeated amphetamine exposure.
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Rationale Adult rats often produce 50-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs), particularly the frequency-modulated varieties, in appetitive situations. These calls are thought by some to reflect positive affective states and the reinforcing value of drugs such as amphetamine and cocaine. Objective The objective of this study was to determine whether the number of unconditioned 50-kHz USVs elicited by amphetamine predicts the development and/or magnitude of drug-conditioned motivation. Methods In three experiments, we recorded USVs before and after injections of 1 mg/kg amphetamine (i.v. or i.p.) administered once per session. Rats were categorized as "high callers" or "low callers" according to individual differences in the number of 50-kHz USVs elicited by their first amphetamine injection. We examined the conditioned appetitive behavior and conditioned place preference (CPP) that emerged in high and low callers after repeated pairings of amphetamine with specific contexts. We also examined whether amphetamine-induced calling was affected by treatment within an unfamiliar (test chamber) versus familiar (home cage) context. Results Within an unfamiliar environment, the high callers consistently produced more amphetamine-induced 50-kHz USVs than the low callers. Compared to the low callers, high callers showed significantly greater amphetamine CPP as well as enhanced conditioned 50-kHz USVs and locomotor activity during anticipation of amphetamine. Individual differences were stable when amphetamine was administered in test chambers, but when it was administered in home cages, low callers showed an increase in 50-kHz calling that matched the high callers. Conclusions These findings suggest that individual differences in drug-induced USVs can reveal environment-sensitive traits involved in drug-related appetitive motivation.
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The literature suggests that individual rats vary consistently in their USV production although most studies use adult male rats.
“Generally, the literature suggests that individual rats vary consistently in their USV production although most studies use adult male rats (e.g., Ahrens et al., 2013; Sundarakrishnan & Clarke, 2022).”
From Stage 2 Registered Report: Refinement of tickling protocols to improve positive animal welfare in laboratory rats (2025) · cites this paper as Ahrens et al., 2013
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What is the role of dopamine in reward: hedonic impact, reward learning, or incentive salience?
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Sundarakrishnan, A., & Clarke, P. B. S. (2022) · PLOS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0276743 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Bombail, V., Brown, S. M., Beyts, C., Martin, J. E., Li, T., Meddle, S. L., Mendl, M., Robinson, E. S., Hammond, T. J., Nielsen, B. L., et al. (2025) · F1000Research · doi:10.12688/f1000research.166417.2 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
- Authors
- Ahrens, A. M., Nobile, C. W., Page, L. E., Maier, E. Y., Duvauchelle, C. L., & Schallert, T.
- Affiliations
- University of Michigan (US)
- The University of Texas at Austin (US)
- Corresponding author
- Ahrens, Allison M.
- ORCID
- Maier, Esther Y.
- Venue
- Psychopharmacology
- Published
- 2013-05-23
- Volume
- 229
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 687-700
- ISSN
- 0033-3158 (ISSN-L)
- 1432-2072
- PMC
- PMC3935796
- OpenAlex
- W2065648602
- Cited by
- 60
- References
- 6
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 12 · 2014: 8
- FWCI
- 3.93
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Psychopharmacology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (AA007471, T32AA007471)
- National Institute on Drug Abuse (DA014640-05S1, R01DA014640, DA014640)
- National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (P01NS019608, NS019608, P50NS019608)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Developmental Biology › Animal Vocal Communication and Behavior
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
- Keywords
- 50-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations, amphetamine, individual differences, conditioned place preference, appetitive motivation, locomotor activity, context sensitivity, positive affect, cocaine
- MeSH terms
- Amphetamine, Animals, Appetitive Behavior, Behavior, Animal, Conditioning, Psychological, Male, Motivation, Reinforcement, Psychology, Reward, Ultrasonics, Vocalization, Animal, Rats, Sprague-Dawley, Rats
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