黑料吃瓜资源

All mice squeak, but only some sing. Scotinomys teguina, aka Alston鈥檚 singing mice, hail from the cloud forests of Costa Rica. More than 2,000 miles north, 黑料吃瓜资源 (CSHL) neuroscientists study these musically gifted mammals to better understand the evolutionary origins of vocal communication. Their research could also tell us something about strokes, autism, and other disorders affecting speech.

While most of us are familiar with mouse squeaks, 鈥渢hey have a whole other communications system called ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs),鈥� says CSHL Assistant Professor Arkarup Banerjee. USVs are so high-pitched and soft we can only hear them with special devices. That鈥檚 not the case for the 鈥渟ongs鈥� of Alston鈥檚 singing mice. Most of us can hear them clearly.

Notably, singing mice can also communicate via USVs. It鈥檚 thought that they sing to project across great distances鈥攁n important skill for living among the clouds. But just how are these communications physically produced? How do singing mice鈥檚 brains, which are comparable to those of ordinary lab mice, enable such complex behavior? Banerjee鈥檚 latest study, published in Current Biology, addresses both questions.

PARId stands for 鈥減artial acoustic isolation reveals identity.鈥� In the PARId tests shown here, a male and a female mouse are each placed in one of two enclosures (top left). Their movements and relative positions are digitally plotted (top right). Vocalizations are recorded in each enclosure and mapped via spectrograms (bottom).

First, Banerjee and his team developed a behavioral test called PARId to characterize the different sounds that singing mice can make. The tests confirmed Alston鈥檚 mice use long, loud, rhythmic songs to communicate from afar and USVs for close talking. Banerjee lab postdoc then gave the mice helium to see if they produced songs by vibrating their vocal cords or blowing air. The 鈥減arty trick鈥� offered surprising results, Banerjee says:

鈥淔or both USVs and songs, the pitch went up. So, we know for sure that they鈥檙e produced by a whistle mechanism.鈥�

Next, CSHL grad student Xiaoyue Mike Zheng used special viruses to target certain areas of the mice鈥檚 brains. These tests revealed something arguably even more surprising. It turns out Alston鈥檚 mice use the same brain region for singing and USVs. And it鈥檚 the same region ordinary lab mice use for daily communications. The finding offers an important clue in the mystery of how mammals鈥� brains have evolved to enable complex behaviors like social interactions. Banerjee explains:

鈥淭his is one of the foundational studies from the lab trying to get into this new domain of how behaviors evolve. We have found what is common. So now the hunt is on for what鈥檚 different.鈥�

In time, the Banerjee lab鈥檚 research on vocal communication could have implications for people with profound autism or stroke-induced aphasia. Their findings may even help engineers make AI better at recognizing specific words and noises. Now, how does that sound?

Written by: Samuel Diamond, Senior Communications Strategist | [email protected] | 516-367-5055

Funding

National Institutes of Health BRAIN Initiative, Searle Scholars Program, Pershing Square Foundation Innovator Fund, Esther A. & Joseph Klingenstein Fund, 黑料吃瓜资源, International Society for Neuroethology Konishi Research Award, George A. and Marjorie H. Anderson Fellowship

Citation

Zheng, X., et al., 鈥淰ocal repertoire expansion in singing mice by co-opting a conserved midbrain circuit node鈥�, Current Biology, November 17, 2025. DOI:

Core Facilites

鈥淭丑别 Animal Shared Resource houses and cares for the animals essential for scientific research. Our staff perform all aspects of animal husbandry, ensure humane care, and assist researchers with highly technical procedures and protocol design and development.鈥� 鈥� Animal Facility Director and Attending Veterinarian Rachel Rubino, DVM