| Title: | The role of the hippocampal system in social odor discrimination and scent-marking in female golden hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) |
| Author(s): | Petrulis A; Peng M; Johnston RE; |
| Address: | "Department of Psychology, Cornell University, USA. hamster@bu.edu" |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 0735-7044 (Print) 0735-7044 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Female golden hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) received aspiration lesions of the parahippocampal region (PARA) or electrolytic lesions of the fimbria-fornix (FNX) and were tested for their (a) discrimination between odors of individual males in a habituation-discrimination task, (b) preference for male over female odors, and (c) scent-marking in response to conspecific odors. Both lesion groups habituated to repeated presentations of a male's odor. However, only FNX females discriminated between scents of individual males, whereas PARA females did not. Neither lesion eliminated female preferences for male odors. Females with FNX lesions showed decreased levels of scent marking, but those with PARA lesions had more subtle deficits. Thus, the PARA, but not the subcortical connections of the hippocampus, is critical for discrimination of the odors of individuals" |
| Keywords: | "Animals Brain Mapping Cricetinae Discrimination, Psychological/physiology Female Fornix, Brain/physiology Hippocampus/*physiology Male Mesocricetus/*physiology Neural Pathways/physiology Sex Attractants/*physiology Sexual Behavior, Animal/*physiology Smel;" |
| Notes: | "MedlinePetrulis, A Peng, M Johnston, R E eng F31 MH011138/MH/NIMH NIH HHS/ MH54146-01A1/MH/NIMH NIH HHS/ MH58001-01A1/MH/NIMH NIH HHS/ MH11138-01/MH/NIMH NIH HHS/ Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S. 2000/03/16 Behav Neurosci. 2000 Feb; 114(1):184-95" |
