Sniff-synchronized, gradient-guided olfactory search by freely moving mice.

ABSTRACT: For many organisms, searching for relevant targets such as food or mates entails active, strategic sampling of the environment. Finding odorous targets may be the most ancient search problem that motile organisms evolved to solve. While chemosensory navigation has been well characterized in microorganisms and invertebrates, spatial olfaction in vertebrates is poorly understood. We have established an olfactory search assay in which freely moving mice navigate noisy concentration gradients of airborne odor. Mice solve this task using concentration gradient cues and do not require stereo olfaction for performance. During task performance, respiration and nose movement are synchronized with tens of milliseconds precision. This synchrony is present during trials and largely absent during inter

SUBMITTER: Findley TM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8169121 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature