Using rat ultrasonic vocalization to study the neurobiology of emotion: from basic science to the development of novel therapeutics for affective disorders

•Emotional ‘feelings’ are treated as a sensory process induced by social stimuli.•The psychophysical properties of sensory perception also apply to emotion.•Brainstem generates and the limbic system develops a full emotional state.•Medial prefrontal cortex guides expression of socially-relevant coordinated emotion.•Prefrontal synaptic plasticity has therapeutic potential for emotional disorders.