Figure 1.
Comparison of different categories of calls produced by WT and Fmr1-KO mice:
A) Total number and B) The percentages of the different call categories within the genotype. Percentages were calculated in each genotype as: (number of calls in each category/total number of calls analyzed in each subject) * 100. The total number of total calls analyzed across all mice was: WT = 1399; KO = 1543 collected from 10 pups per genotype. The total number of call emissions and the number of calls within a category (including downward calls) were not significantly different between genotypes (A). However, analysis of the percentage of different call categorys revealed that the percentage of downward calls produced by the Fmr1-KO pups were significantly lower (p<0.001) compared to their WT littermates (B).
Figure 2.
Carrier frequency and frequency modulation of vocalizations during the three minutes of isolation period from mother and littermates:
A) Box plot showing the mean carrier frequency of flat calls (Diamonds) together with the 25th to 75th percentile (box height) and median (horizontal line). Triangles at the top and bottom indicate 99 and 1 percentile, respectively. Error bars represent standard error of mean (SE). Mean carrier frequency was calculated from first ten flat calls during isolation. Black outlines: WT littermate control mice; gray outlines: Fmr1-KO. B) Box plot as in A) but showing the mean range of frequency modulation of complex calls. Black outlines: WT littermate control mice; gray outlines: Fmr1-KO. Dashes (-) mark minimum and maximum values. The average carrier frequency of flat calls emitted by KO mice was higher (p<0.001) than in WT animals (Figure 2A). Call frequency modulation was significantly increased in Fmr1-KO mice (p = 0.004) compared to WT pups (Figure 2B).
Figure 3.
Duration of separation induced ultrasonic vocalizations.
The average duration measurements were obtained from 10 mice of each genotype, averaging 10 calls of each type per mouse. Black bar: WT littermates; gray bar: Fmr1-KO mice. Error bars represent standard error of mean (SE). There was no significant difference in the duration of any call type between the genotypes.
Table 1.
Average duration of calls (±Std Dev.) for different categories of calls.
Figure 4.
Body weight comparison between WT and in Fmr1-KO mice: Body weights of pups were measured on post natal day eight.
Black circles: WT littermates; Gray circles: Fmr1-KO mice. Error bar represents standard error of the mean (SE). The body weights of mouse pups were not significantly different between genotypes.