Selective breeding for an infant phenotype: Rat pup ultrasonic vocalization (USV)

To examine processes underlying generational and developmental influences on anxiety, this laboratory produced two lines of (N:NIH strain) rats, selectively bred on the basis extreme rates of ultrasonic vocalization in 2 minutes of isolation at Postnatal Day 10. The research reviewed in this article focuses on: (1) establishment of the selectively bred lines; (2) defining infant behavioral and physiological phenotypes and (3) determining whether infantile USV phenotypes endure over development. The High and Low lines have diverged widely in their USV rates from each other and from the Random control line, which has maintained N:NIH strain rates overall from generation to generation. Beginning in the 11th generation, High USV pups have shown significantly higher frequencies of defecation and urination during isolation screening than the Low USV and random control line. Both lines show altered autonomic regulation of heart rates (HR) in response to stressors as juveniles and adults. These differences in HR responses in High and Low lines appear to be mediated by changes in the balance of sympathetic versus parasympathetic mechanisms. Other behavioral characteristics of the High line are consistent with an "anxious"/"depressive" phenotype, such as vocalizations to touch in a novel environment, and performance in the Porsolt Swim, whereas Low line shows few differences in anxiety behavior. Future work will resolve the similarities and differences in the High and Low phenotypes and provide a developmental perspective to the growing body of information about affective regulation in humans and animals provided by selectively bred animal models.