Jeffrey Wenstrup, Ph.D., Sharad Shanbhag, Ph.D., and Mahtab Tehrani, Ph.D.
Our Work
Vocalizations reflect our emotions. As we listen to another’s vocal signals, we respond by assigning them a meaning determined by the vocalization itself, our previous experience, and our own emotional state. This in turn affects the way that we respond to a person’s vocal signals—by our posture, facial gestures, movement, and speech. Our goal is to understand how the brain shapes our responses to these vocal signals.
Our approachBrain regions of interest:
Our focus is on the amygdala, a brain center that integrates sensory inputs with information about our previous experiences and our internal state. It then assesses the meaning of new sensory information and “decides” on the appropriate behavioral responses. We also study the auditory centers that feed information to the amygdala about social vocalizations.
Our models
We use bats and mice as models to study these processes. Bats are sound experts that use vocalizations to both communicate and to catch prey and navigate through echolocation. Mice are acoustic generalists that integrate acoustic and other sensory information during social interactions. Both models provide valuable insights into the mechanisms underlying acoustic communication and emotions.
Our techniques:
We record and analyze the social vocalizations of bats and mice to understand how they communicate their emotional state through social vocalizations. These analyses help us to design vocal stimuli to study the animals’ behavioral and brain responses to emotion-containing vocalizations.
Our neural studies use a combination of anatomical tracing, optogenetics, imaging, electrophysiology, microdialysis, and pharmaceutical techniques. These help us to describe how amygdala neurons respond to vocalizations, which brain areas drive the amygdalar responses to vocalizations, and how modulatory neurochemicals shape these neuronal responses and behavioral reactions.
Research Projects involving undergraduates
• Describing vocal behavior in mice
• Analyzing circuitry related to emotions and vocalizations
• Analyzing neural responses to vocalizations
Publicationshttps://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=VxcRjv0AAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdateClick here for more information on the Wenstrup lab.
