Rapid triggering of vocalizations following social interactions

Social interactions are multifaceted, composed of interlinked sensorymotor behaviors. The individual significance of each of these correlated components cannot be established without observing the full behavior. Recently, Wesson [1] concluded that rats display their submissive status by lowering sniff rate following face-to-face encounters with a dominant conspecific. How rats can perceive such changes in sniff rate is unclear. We recorded sniffing and vocal production of rats during social interactions. Face-toface encounters with a dominant rat immediately elicited 22 kHz alarm calls in the submissive. The large drop