Extracting Behaviorally Relevant Traits from Natural Stimuli: Benefits of Combinatorial Representations at the Accessory Olfactory Bulb.

ABSTRACT: For many animals, chemosensation is essential for guiding social behavior. However, because multiple factors can modulate levels of individual chemical cues, deriving information about other individuals via natural chemical stimuli involves considerable challenges. How social information is extracted despite these sources of variability is poorly understood. The vomeronasal system provides an excellent opportunity to study this topic due to its role in detecting socially relevant traits. Here, we focus on two such traits: a female mouse's strain and reproductive state. In particular, we measure stimulus-induced neuronal activity in the accessory olfactory bulb (AOB) in response to various dilutions of urine, vaginal secretions, and saliva, from estrus and non-estrus female mice from two di

SUBMITTER: Kahan A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4777510 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature