Domestic cat larynges can produce purring frequencies without neural input
The result's identifiers
Result code in IS VaVaI
<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F61989592%3A15310%2F23%3A73621549" target="_blank" >RIV/61989592:15310/23:73621549 - isvavai.cz</a>
Result on the web
<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982223012307" target="_blank" >https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982223012307</a>
DOI - Digital Object Identifier
<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2023.09.014" target="_blank" >10.1016/j.cub.2023.09.014</a>
Alternative languages
Result language
angličtina
Original language name
Domestic cat larynges can produce purring frequencies without neural input
Original language description
Most mammals produce vocal sounds according to the myoelastic-aerodynamic (MEAD) principle, through self-sustaining oscillation of laryngeal tissues. In contrast, cats have long been believed to produce their low-frequency purr vocalizations through a radically different mechanism involving active muscle contractions (AMC), where neurally driven electromyographic burst patterns (typically at 20–30 Hz) cause the intrinsic laryngeal muscles to actively modulate the respiratory airflow. Direct empirical evidence for this AMC mechanism is sparse. Here, the fundamental frequency (fo) ranges of eight domestic cats (Felis silvestris catus) were investigated in an excised larynx setup, to test the prediction of the AMC hypothesis that vibration should be impossible without neuromuscular activity, and thus unattainable in excised larynx setups, which are based on MEAD principles. Surprisingly, all eight excised larynges produced self-sustained oscillations at typical cat purring rates. Histological analysis of cat larynges revealed the presence of connective tissue masses, up to 4 mm in diameter, embedded in the vocal fold. This vocal fold specialization appears to allow the unusually low fo values observed in purring. While our data do not fully reject the AMC hypothesis for purring, they show that cat larynges can easily produce sounds in the purr regime with fundamental frequencies of 25 to 30 Hz without neural input or muscular contraction. This strongly suggests that the physical and physiological basis of cat purring involves the same MEAD-based mechanisms as other cat vocalizations (e.g., meows) and most other vertebrate vocalizations but is potentially augmented by AMC.
Czech name
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Czech description
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Classification
Type
J<sub>imp</sub> - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database
CEP classification
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OECD FORD branch
10613 - Zoology
Result continuities
Project
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Continuities
S - Specificky vyzkum na vysokych skolach
Others
Publication year
2023
Confidentiality
S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů
Data specific for result type
Name of the periodical
CURRENT BIOLOGY
ISSN
0960-9822
e-ISSN
1879-0445
Volume of the periodical
33
Issue of the periodical within the volume
21
Country of publishing house
US - UNITED STATES
Number of pages
9
Pages from-to
4727-"4732.e4"
UT code for WoS article
001109214000001
EID of the result in the Scopus database
2-s2.0-85174630524