| Title: | Thalamocortical mechanisms in odor-guided behavior. II. Effects of lesions of the mediodorsal thalamic nucleus and frontal cortex on odor preferences and sexual behavior in the hamster |
| Author(s): | Sapolsky RM; Eichenbaum H; |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 0006-8977 (Print) 0006-8977 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "The role of the thalamocortical 'olfactory' pathway in odor preferences and sexual behavior was examined in the hamster, a species which depends crucially upon olfaction for mating. Before and after ablation of primary or secondary olfactory structures, male hamsters were tested for threshold, interest, and preference for the odor of an estrus female hamster and other odors. Sexual competency was also observed in daily mating sessions. Disruption of the primary olfactory pathway resulted in an absence of interest in odors and mating. Lesions of the mediodorsal thalamic nucleus or frontal neocortex of the rhinal sulcus did not result in anosmia, but did eliminate or alter odor preferences and resulted in inappropriate, inefficient, precopulatory and copulatory behavior. It appears that substructures in the thalamofrontal pathway playa role in discriminative or cognitive aspects of processing adaptively significant stimuli" |
| Keywords: | "Animals Choice Behavior/*physiology Cricetinae Frontal Lobe/*physiology Limbic System/physiology Male Mesocricetus Olfactory Bulb/physiology Olfactory Pathways/physiology Sensory Thresholds Sex Attractants Sexual Behavior, Animal/*physiology Smell/*physio;" |
| Notes: | "MedlineSapolsky, R M Eichenbaum, H eng Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S. Switzerland 1980/01/01 Brain Behav Evol. 1980; 17(4):276-90. doi: 10.1159/000121804" |
