Topic: ultrasonic vocalizations (USV)

Dysregulation of social motivation can lead to social maladjustment, relationship degradation, and is common in many neuropsychiatric disorders such as autism or depression. It is thus very important to better understand the neurobiological substrate underlying this dysregulation of motivation. The Subthalamic Nucleus (STN) has been shown to be a crucial brain region to regulate motivation and emotions. STN lesions induce impairments in various aspects of social behavior in rats, including reduced motivation for rewarding positive ultrasonic vocalizations (USV), non-recognition of emotional vo