The perception of acoustic signals and the hormonal control over acoustic communication in rodents

Rodents live in a wide variety of habitats all over the world. They are known to use vocalizations for communication, requiring good auditory acuity to detect, discriminate, identify, and localize these vocalizations. Most of the work measuring auditory acuity as a function of species, age, and sex has been conducted on laboratory mice and rats. These measurements can be used as baseline functions to determine the effects of hormones on hearing and the auditory system in general. Hormones such as glucocorticoids, mineralocorticoids, estrogen, insulin-like growth factor-1, and thyroid hormone have roles in the development of the auditory system, protection of the aging auditory system, and the restoration of hearing after trauma. More studies are needed to determine whether the findings from laboratory animals translate to wild rodents living in various environments with differing ecological characteristics and evolutionary pressures.