. Prior to surgery, mice were anesthetized using a mixture of ketamine and dexmedetomidine . During the surgery, the mouse was placed on a heated surgery pad and received additional isoflurane when necessary. The mouse’s head was stabilized by ear bars in a stereotaxic surgery rig. When the mouse was fully anesthetized, we removed the hair from the head and made an incision in the skin over the anterior part of the skull.
, we only compared mutants to control littermates whose vocalizations were measured using the same system.We measured open-field activity using automated Fusion software. Mice were placed in the center of an open field that has photo beams for detecting horizontal and vertical activity. The chamber was placed in a room with the light set to 200 lux and ambient white noise to 60 dB. Each mouse was allowed to explore the chamber for 30 min.