Page 73 - ACHEMS 2012 PROGRAM

while blocking muscarinic neurotransmission during acquisition of
olfactory association leads to a general reduction in the learning, it
does not affect generalization of this learning. Acknowledgements:
R03 DC009853
#P138 POSTER SESSION IV:
CHEMICAL SIGNALING & BEHAVIOR;
PSYCHOPHYSICS; CHEMOSENSATION & DISEASE;
OLFACTION PERIPHERY; TASTE PERIPHERY
The Role of Chemical Cues in Precopulatory Reproductive
Isolation in House Mouse Superspecies Complex Mus musculus
s.lato: from Behavior to Receptors
Vera V Voznessenskaya1, Alexander V Ambaryan 1,
Anna E Voznesenskaya2,3, Ilya G Kvasha 1, Elena V Kotenkova1
1A.N.Severtzov Institute of Ecology & Evolution Moscow,
Russia, 2Monell Chemical Senses Center Philadelphia, PA,
USA, 3A.A.Kharkevich Institute for Information Transmition
Moscow, Russia
The present study aimed to investigate the role of chemical cues in
precopulatory reproductive isolation in closely related Mus species.
Test subjects were two sympatric species which do not hybridise
under natural conditions: house mouse M. musculus and mound-
building mouse M.spicilegus. To monitor plasma testosterone and
corticosterone we used ELISA technique. To visualize activated
neurons in vomeronasal organ (VNO) receptor tissue, in the main
(MOB) and accessory olfactory bulb (AOB) in response to
stimulation with odors, Fos protein immunohistochemistry was
used. To assess behavior, the following behavioral techniques
were utilized: standard two and four preference tests, habituation-
dishabituation tests. In all tests individuals discriminated con-
and heterospecific odors. Both males and females investigated
significantly (p<0.01) longer opposite sex urine samples of
conspecifics versus heterospecifics. Males responded to exposure
to estrus female samples of conspecifics with elevated plasma
testosterone (p<0.01). However, we did not observe plasma
testosterone response in males when heterospecific female urine
was used. In males of different species, Fos-IR was recorded in
MOB, AOB and in VNO epithelium in response to stimulation with
urine samples from receptive con- and heterospecific females. In
M. musculus, in response to stimulation with conspecific receptive
female urine we observed Fos-IR in apical and bazal zone of VNO.
Using the very same design of experiments in M.spicilegus, we
observed Fos-IR in VNO apical zone only. There were no activated
cells in VNO receptor epithelium in response to stimulation with
receptive heterospecific female urine. Our data support the
hypothesis that chemical cues play a critical role in reproductive
isolation of closely related Mus species. Acknowledgements:
Russian Foundation for Basic Research #10-04-01599 to VVV
#P139 POSTER SESSION IV:
CHEMICAL SIGNALING & BEHAVIOR;
PSYCHOPHYSICS; CHEMOSENSATION & DISEASE;
OLFACTION PERIPHERY; TASTE PERIPHERY
Reciprocal use of sniffing during rodent social interactions
Daniel W. Wesson, Colleen A. Payton
Case Western Reserve University, Neurosciences
Cleveland, OH, USA
Sniffing is a specialized respiratory behavior considered critical
for odor perception and is displayed by a variety of animals,
especially during social interactions. Due to this, sniffing is widely
considered a mechanism for gathering information during social
encounters. However, the display of sniffing in ‘non-olfactory’
contexts and the lack of knowledge regarding sniffing within the
social milieu bears to question the true meaning of sniffing during
social interactions. Here we explored the purpose of sniffing during
social encounters by simultaneously monitoring intranasal
dynamics from rats during interactions through use of a nasal
thermocouple connected to a head-mounted wireless transmitter.
We found that rats modulate numerous parameters of sniffing,
including frequency and amplitude, both before and during contact
with a conspecific. As predicted, the display of high-frequency
sniffing (4-10Hz) was more pronounced during social interactions
than when a rat was in solitude. Interestingly, we found that rats
commonly modulate their sniffing upon being sniffed. Namely,
upon the high-frequency snout-to-snout sniffing of one rat, the
conspecific being sniffed often reduces its sniffing frequency to
~2Hz. This ‘reciprocal’ display of sniffing however was not
observed when the same rat sniffed the conspecific’s flanks or
anogenital region, suggesting a unique role for reciprocal sniffing
in snout-to-snout investigation. Our work provides an initial
description of social sniffing and establishes evidence that in
addition to being used to acquire odor information, sniffing may
also be a form of active communication. Due to these findings, the
possibility that active sampling methods may also be forms active
‘communicating’ should be considered. Acknowledgements:
Supported by NSF grant ISO-1121471 to D.W.W.
#P140 POSTER SESSION IV:
CHEMICAL SIGNALING & BEHAVIOR;
PSYCHOPHYSICS; CHEMOSENSATION & DISEASE;
OLFACTION PERIPHERY; TASTE PERIPHERY
Modulations of Emotional Attention Processes
by Androstadienone
Sylvain Delplanque1,2, Matthieu Ischer1,2, David Sander1,2
1Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, University of Geneva Geneva,
Switzerland, 2Laboratory for the study of Emotion Elicitation and
Expression, University of Geneva Geneva, Switzerland
Androstadienone (AND, Δ4,16-androstadien-one), a human steroid
found in sweat, is considered as a putative human pheromone.
Recent studies have proposed that AND could enhance attention
toward emotional information. Which cerebral mechanisms are
more particularly involved in the modulation of emotional attention
by AND remains unexplored. In this study, electrical brain
potentials were recorded while male and female participants
performed a visual emotional dot-probe task known to trigger
emotional attention processes. Meanwhile, they were exposed to
AND and control odors in a within subject design. In this dot-probe
task, participants indicate the location of a target (a triangle) that
replaces one of two simultaneously presented cues. One cue is
emotionally significant (baby or angry face), and the other is
Abstracts | 73
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