title: Isolation-induced vocalization in the infant rat depends on the nucleus accumbens.
abstract: Mammalian infants vocalize when socially isolated. Vocalization guides the return of the caregiver and thereby maintains an environment critical to the infant's survival. Although the role of the periaqueductal gray area (PAG) in these vocalizations is established, other aspects of the relevant neural circuitry remain under-studied. Here we report that output from the nucleus accumbens (Acb) is necessary for isolation-induced vocalizations of infant rats aged postnatal days (PND) 11-13. Local inhibition via infusion of the GABAAagonist muscimol (.8 μg/side) of the Acb, but not the dorsolateral striatum, blocked isolation-induced vocalizations, independent of whether the isolation was at room temperature, followed a brief reunion with the dam, or occurred in a cool (10 °C) environment. These findings highlight a possible anatomical area mediating the mammalian infant response to social separation and, more generally, to the development of social attachment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental Neuroscience, The New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, New York.|Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, New York.
authors.forename: Jeff M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Muller
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental Neuroscience, The New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, New York.|Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, New York.
authors.forename: Harry N
authors.initials: HN
authors.lastname: Shair
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D058785:GABA-A Receptor Agonists / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D009118:Muscimol / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology; D009714:Nucleus Accumbens / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012934:Social Isolation; D014828:Vocalization, Animal / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D058785:GABA-A Receptor Agonists; D009118:Muscimol
keywords: distress; isolation; maternal separation; nucleus accumbens; ultrasonic vocalization; ventral striatum