The Effect of Early-life Status Epilepticus on Ultrasonic Vocalizations in Mice

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of kainate-induced early life seizures on vocalization behavior and intracellular signaling pathways involved in nervous system development. On postnatal day 10, male and female 129SvEvTac mice received a single intraperitoneal injection of kainic acid 2.5 mg/kg to induce 1-2 hours of status epilepticus. On postnatal days 11 and 12, mice were removed from the home cage and isolation-induced ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) were recorded using the UltraVox software. The PI3K-Akt-mTOR and Canonical Wnt intracellular signaling pathways in the brains of pups on postnatal day 12 were investigated by western blotting analysis. There was significant suppression of USV quantity and total duration at the 50kHz frequency on postnatal day 12 following seizures. These results were both sex-specific and associated with changes in the PI3K-Akt-mTOR intracellular signaling pathway. These findings support the growing body of evidence for USV behavior as an early behavioral marker of neural deficits.