Effects of intraaccumbens amphetamine on production of 50 kHz vocalizations in three lines of selectively bred Long-Evans rats

Effects of direct injections of amphetamine into the shell of the nucleus accumbens were studied in three lines of Long-Evans rats, two of which had been selected for low and high rates of 50 kHz calls in adolescence in response to a standard social stimulation, and compared to results from randomly selected rats. Injections of amphetamine into the medial shell of the nucleus accumbens significantly increased the number of 50 kHz vocalizations in the high line but not low line, as compared to the random controls. This response was shell specific and antagonized by raclopride. Rats of the high line emitted significantly more frequency-modulated calls, with broader bandwidth and higher mean peak frequency than rats of all other lines. It is concluded that the high line of Long-Evans rats represents animals prone to positively valenced emotional states dependent on endogenous shell dopamine, as compared to the low line animals. Low line rats were less vocal than high and random line rats and not significantly responsive to intraaccumbens amphetamine. Selection of rats on the basis of the number of emitted 50 kHz calls is a useful model for studying brain mechanisms of different emotional phenotypes. The results also indicate that accumbens shell dopamine responsivity may be critical in determining the positive or negative emotional phenotype of the organism.

Research highlights▶ The study is focused on the selectively bred rats differing in expression of emotional states by vocalization. Effects of amphetamine injected into the shell of the nucleus accumbens were studied in three lines of Long-Evans rats, which had been selected for low and high rates of 50 kHz calls. Injections of amphetamine into the shell of the nucleus accumbens significantly increased the number of 50 kHz vocalizations in the high line but not low line, and this response was shell specific and antagonized by raclopride. The high line of Long-Evans rats represents animals prone to positively valenced emotional states dependent on endogenous shell dopamine, as compared to the low line animals. The results indicate that accumbens shell dopamine responsivity may be critical in determining the positive or negative emotional phenotype of the organism.