Activity-dependent development of vocal circuits in the neonatal rodent forebrain.
Overview
- Institute of Neuroscience, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan
- Institute of Anatomy and Cell Biology, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan
Abstract
Vocal communication is fundamental for social interaction across species, yet the neural mechanisms that shape vocal circuit development remain poorly understood despite their relevance to neurodevelopmental disorders. Here, we investigate vocal circuit development in mice using isolation-induced ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) in neonates. An activity-tagging approach identifies the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) as a cortical region strongly activated during USV emission. We find a predictable temporal correlation between vmPFC activity and USV emission using in vivo fiber photometry. Selective activation and inhibition of vmPFC neurons establishes a causal role of vmPFC in vocalization. Interestingly, chronic activation of vmPFC neurons not only increases Foxp2, a gene implicated in childhood speech apraxia, but also Vglut1-labeled synapses in the striatum, suggesting that activity-dependent increases in Foxp2 may promote corticostriatal synaptogenesis. Consistent with this finding, neonatal vmPFC activation partially rescues USV deficits in Foxp2 heterozygous mutant mice. Collectively, our results identify the vmPFC-striatal circuit as a key regulator of neonatal vocalization and suggest that Foxp2 may mediate activity-dependent development of vocal circuits.
Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.
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Data
Data links
- ebi.ac.uk/
biostudies/ , EMBL-EBI; found in the text, “Author contributions”sourcedata
Data availability
The raw data for Fig. 1 have been deposited in BioStudies under 10.6019/
The source data of this paper are collected in the following database record: biostudies:S-SCDT-10_103
Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.
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Version 1, 28 September 2026: the first record
Recorded: type, language, journal, volume, issue, pages, dates, 7 authors, 1 keyword, 13 MeSH terms, 3 funders, 65 references, 1 RRID.
Cite
This paper
Chen, S.-Y., Pang, H.-Y., Fan, P.-W., Wu, G.-Y., Lin, W.-T., Liu, F.-C., & Kuo, H.-Y. (2026). Activity-dependent development of vocal circuits in the neonatal rodent forebrain. EMBO reports, 27(13), 3632-3664. https://
BibTeX
@article{chen2026activit
author = {Chen, Shih-Yun and Pang, Hao-Yu and Fan, Pao-Wen and Wu, Guan-Ying and Lin, Wan-Ting and Liu, Fu-Chin and Kuo, Hsiao-Ying},
title = {{Activity-dependent development of vocal circuits in the neonatal rodent forebrain}},
journal = {EMBO reports},
year = {2026},
month = may,
volume = {27},
number = {13},
pages = {3632--3664},
publisher = {Nature Publishing Group},
issn = {1469-221X},
doi = {10.1038/
url = {https://
pmid = {42156914},
pmcid = {PMC13354774}
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
AU - Chen, Shih-Yun
AU - Pang, Hao-Yu
AU - Fan, Pao-Wen
AU - Wu, Guan-Ying
AU - Lin, Wan-Ting
AU - Liu, Fu-Chin
AU - Kuo, Hsiao-Ying
TI - Activity-dependent development of vocal circuits in the neonatal rodent forebrain
T2 - EMBO reports
J2 - EMBO Rep
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/
VL - 27
IS - 13
SP - 3632
EP - 3664
SN - 1469-221X
PB - Nature Publishing Group
DO - 10.1038/
UR - https://
LA - en
ER -
CSL-JSON
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"URL": "https://
"language": "en",
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