Title: | Role of frontal cortex in social odor discrimination and scent-marking in female golden hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) |
Author(s): | Petrulis A; DeSouza I; Schiller M; Johnston RE; |
Address: | "Department of Psychology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA. ap16@cornell.edu" |
DOI: | 10.1037//0735-7044.112.1.199 |
ISSN/ISBN: | 0735-7044 (Print) 0735-7044 (Linking) |
Abstract: | "Orbital/agranular insular (ORB/AI) cortex has been implicated in traditional olfactory learning tasks and social behavior but its precise role in discriminating-learning social odors is not known. Female golden hamsters received aspiration lesions of ORB/AI or dorsomedial (DM) frontal cortex and were tested for their ability to (a) discriminate between odors of individual males in a habituation-discrimination task, (b) show preferences for male over female odors, and (c) scent-mark in response to male odors. Lesioned females readily discriminated between scents of individual males. Neither lesion altered female preferences for male odors. Females with DM lesions showed increased levels of scent marking to male odors, but those with ORB/AI cortex lesions did not differ from controls. Thus, ORB/AI cortex does not appear to be critical for discrimination of odors of individuals or sex or for scent-marking responses based on these discriminations" |
Keywords: | "Animals Brain Mapping Cricetinae Discrimination Learning/*physiology Estrus/physiology Female Frontal Lobe/*physiology Male Mesocricetus Sex Attractants/physiology Sexual Behavior, Animal/*physiology Smell/*physiology;" |
Notes: | "MedlinePetrulis, A DeSouza, I Schiller, M Johnston, R E eng F31 MH011138/MH/NIMH NIH HHS/ MH 54146-01A1/MH/NIMH NIH HHS/ MH 11138-01/MH/NIMH NIH HHS/ Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S. Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S. 1998/03/28 Behav Neurosci. 1998 Feb; 112(1):199-212. doi: 10.1037//0735-7044.112.1.199" |