title: Automated acoustic analysis of 50-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations using template matching and contour analysis.
abstract: Ultrasonic vocalizations are a useful tool for inferring affective states in the rat and have been incorporated in research paradigms modeling important human conditions. While the majority of studies report the quantity or rate of observed ultrasonic vocalizations, growing evidence suggests that critical data may be contained in the acoustic features of individual vocalizations. Thus, the goal of the present study was to develop and validate a method for measuring acoustic parameters of ultrasonic vocalizations that were collected using automatic template detection. Acoustic parameters derived using this method were found to be comparable to those collected using commercially available software.
authors.affiliation: National Institute on Drug Abuse Intramural Research Program, Neuronal Networks Section, National Institutes of Health, 251 Bayview Boulevard, Baltimore, Maryland 21224, USA djamesbarker@gmail.com.
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Barker
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, New York University Voice Center, New York University School of Medicine, 345 East 37th Street, Suite 306, New York, New York 10016, USA aaron.johnson@nyumc.org.
authors.forename: Aaron M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Johnson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D057205:Automation, Laboratory; D008297:Male; D010363:Pattern Recognition, Automated; D020318:Rats, Long-Evans; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; D012984:Software; D013018:Sound Spectrography; D013997:Time Factors; D000069453:Ultrasonic Waves; D014465:Ultrasonics / Q000379:methods*; D014828:Vocalization, Animal