Showing papers on "Olfaction published in 1983"

Chemical Signals in Vertebrates 3

Abstract: One: Reptiles.- Strike-Induced Chemosensory Searching by Rattlesnakes: The Role of Envenomation-Related Chemical Cues in the Post-Strike Environment.- Fossil and Comparative Evidence for Possible Chemical Signaling in the Mammal-Like Reptiles.- Two: Vomeronasal Organ.- Snake Tongue Flicking Behavior: Clues to Vomeronasal System Functions.- The Accessory Olfactory System: Role in Maintenance of Chemoinvestigatory Behavior.- Flehmen Behavior and Vomeronasal Organ Function.- Three: Neuroendocrinology of Olfaction.- Olfaction in Central Neural and Neuroendocrine Systems: Integrative Review of Olfactory Representations and Interrelations.- The Neuroendocrinology of Scent Marking.- Four: Chemical Signals and Endocrines.- Priming Pheromones in Mice.- Pheromonal Control of the Bovine Ovarian Cycle.- Synchronizing Ovarian and Birth Cycles by Female Pheromones.- Volatile and Nonvolatile Chemosignals of Female Rodents: Differences in Hormonal Regulation.- Five: Chemical Signals and Genetics.- Communication Disparities Between Genetically-Diverging Populations of Deermice.- Six: Field Studies (Pheromone Ecology).- The Ecological Importance of the Anal Gland Secretion of Yellow Voles (Lagurus luteus).- Odor as a Component of Trap Entry Behavior in Small Rodents.- Experimental Modulation of Behavior of Free-Ranging Mammals by Semiochemicals.- Seven: Social Odors: Discrimination and Recognition.- Mechanisms of Individual Discrimination in Hamsters.- Human Olfactory Communications.- Eight: Chemistry.- Studies of the Chemical Composition of Secretions from Skin Glands of the Rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus.- Nine: Pheromones and Other Physiological Functions.- Thermal and Osmolarity Properties of Pheromonal Communication in the Gerbil, Meriones unguiculatus.- Ten: Abstracts.- The Evolution of Alarm Pheromones.- Investigation into the Origin(s) of the Freshwater Attractant(s) of the American Eel.- A Pregnancy Block Resulting from Multiple-Male Copulation or Exposure at the Time of Mating in Deer Mice (Peromyscus maniculatus).- Olfactory Communication in Kangaroo Rats (D. merriami).- Odor Preferences of Young Rats: Production of an Attractive Odor by Males.- Rate and Location of Scent Marking by Pikas During the Breeding Season.- Effects of Urine on the Response to Carrot-Bait in the European Wild Rabbit.- An Investigation into the 'Bruce Effect' in Domesticated Rabbits.- Individual Discrimination on the Basis of Urine in Dogs and Wolves.- Throat-Rubbing in Red Howler Nbnkeys (Alouatta seniculus).- Author Index.

Evidence for olfactory function in utero

Abstract: Pregnant rats received 2-[14C]deoxy-D-glucose (2DG) intravenously on the last day of gestation, and their fetuses were delivered 1 hour later by cesarean section. Fetal brains showed high 2DG uptake spread throughout the accessory olfactory bulb and little or no differential uptake in the main olfactory bulb. These findings demonstrate that functional activity occurs in the accessory olfactory bulb in utero and suggest that the accessory olfactory system may be the pathway by which fetal rats detect the odor quality of their intrauterine milieu.

Biochemical Studies of Olfaction: Binding Specificity of Odorants to a Cilia Preparation from Rainbow Trout Olfactory Rosettes

Abstract: Cilia isolated from the olfactory epithelium (olfactory rosettes) of rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri) bind amino acids, which are odor stimuli to this species. We demonstrate that L-threonine, l-serine, and l-alanine bind to a common site, TSA, in the cilia preparation. All possible mixtures of two of the amino acids as competitors, with the third as the 3H-labeled ligand, were studied. The effect of two combined (unlabeled) competitors was always substantially less than additive compared with their actions singly. Along with additional inhibition studies using mixtures of inhibitors, the data show that the three odorants must interact with at least one common binding site, TSA. Binding of l-[3H]lysine to site L was unaffected by addition of l-threonine, l-serine, or l-alanine, establishing its independence from site TSA. l-Arginine inhibited binding of l-[3H]lysine, showing that both of these basic amino acids interact with site L. The data establish the presence, in trout olfactory cilia, of at least two separate and noninteracting populations of odorant binding sites, TSA and L.

Computation of olfactory signals in Drosophila melanogaster

Abstract: Olfactory discrimination ofDrosophila melanogaster WT Berlin was determined in a learning paradigm.

The secondary olfactory connections in two chondrichthians, the shark Scyliorhinus canicula and the ray Raja clavata.

Abstract: The secondary olfactory connections in the shark Scyliorhinus canicula and the ray Raja clavata have been studied with reduced silver techniques. After transections through the pedunculus olfactorius in Scyliorhinus degenerating fibers could be traced to the telencephalic hemisphere. On entering the hemisphere these fibers subdivide into a small medial and a larger lateral olfactory tract. The medial tract distributes fibers to the lateral part of the ipsilateral pallium dorsale, pars superficialis and area periventricularis pallialis, but the majority of its fibers terminate in the submeningeal zone of the pallium. The medial olfactory tract also projects contralaterally to the submeningeal pallial zone via the commissura olfactoria inferior and to the stratum granulare bulbi olfactorii by way of the commissura olfactoria superior. The lateral olfactory tract distributes mainly to the pallium laterale and to the region superficial to the lateral part of the area superficialis basalis, though the striatum also receives some fibers. In Raja the secondary olfactory tract could not be subdivided into medial and lateral components and its projections seem to be restricted to the ipsilateral pallium laterale. A striking difference between Scyliorhinus and Raja is that in the latter no contralateral projections could be recognized nor a projection to the area superficialis basalis. When these results are compared with those reported in the literature for other cartilaginous fishes, it appears that the secondary olfactory connections of Scyliorhinus are more extensive than in other chondrichthians studied experimentally. In some cases of peduncle transection in Scyliorhinus the lateral part of the striatum was also involved in the lesion. In addition to the pattern of degeneration seen after olfactory peduncle lesions, degenerating fibers could be distinguished both in the stria medullaris and basal forebrain bundle. The former projects to habenular nucleus, whereas the latter distributes to the hypothalamus, ventral thalamus, and brainstem tegmentum.

Influence of a detergent on the catfish olfactory mucosa

Abstract: The olfactory mucosa of the catfish (Ictulurus punctatus) has been briefly exposed to various concentrations of the non-ionic detergent Triton X-100. At high concentrations (1–4%) the upper layer of cells constituting the sensory and non-sensory areas of the lamellae is extensively damaged and new receptor cells do not appear in significant number before 2 months after treatment. Respiratory cells regenerate first followed by sustentacular and olfactory receptors. The regenerative process is very similar to that described previously after prolonged contact between the mucosa and ZnSO4. Low detergent concentrations 0.03 – 0.1% affect only the sensory area. Olfactory and sustentacular microvilli and cilia, are immediately severed by the chemical. Regeneration occurs within the next 4 days. The cellular membranes appear also to be affected. From anatomical, electrophysiological and biochemical studies both in vivo and in vitro, it can be hypothesized that receptors involved in the transduction process are solubilized by the detergent but reappear at a level corresponding to 50–60% of their original activity within 2 h. Proteins, having an amino acid binding effectiveness correlated to the amino acid electrophysiological activities measured in vivo, can be isolated from the solubilized material. Further studies will be necessary to confirm that some of these molecules are involved in the olfactory transduction mechanism.

Occurrence and function of prairie rattlesnake mouth gaping in a non‐feeding context

Abstract: Mouth gaping by rattlesnakes has been observed primarily during feeding sequences and interpreted as functioning to stretch the jaw in preparation for swallowing prey. However, exposure of prairie rattlesnakes to conspecific sociochemical signals elicited increased mouth-gaping actions, and the latter were sequentially followed by tongue flicks at significant levels. Mouth gaping may function to facilitate vomeronasal olfaction independent of jaw-stretching effects.

Rapid fiber reorganization after early olfactory tract section and bulbectomy in the hamster

Abstract: Details of neuronal reorganization were investigated in golden hamster pups 10 days after neonatal olfactory lesions. Pups sustained unilateral olfactory tract section (ULOT) or unilateral olfactory bulbectomy (UOB) on postnatal day 5 (P5) and were then behaviorally tested through P15. UOBs were sacrificed after P15 to assess the extent of lesions. ULOTs were processed with degeneration techniques to demonstrate the terminal distribution of bulb fibers whose path had been either deflected or severed by the early tract section. Ten days after complete tract section, extensive sprouting of bulb fibers had occurred rostral to the cut in olfactory as well as adjacent nonolfactory (e.g., neocortical) regions. The pattern of rostral sprouting was similar to, and in some cases exceeded, that described in adults subjected to neonatal tract sections (Devor, 76b). Fibers grew caudally past the cut following aberrant paths to reinnervate limited regions of the olfactory tubercle and less frequently, the piriform cortex. Unlike the continuous band of terminals soon in the caudal field of adults given neonatal tract sections, at this early stage of regrowth, fibers were organized in small discontinuous fascicles that tended to cluster at the islands of Calleja of the tubercle. Although these fibers innervated a relatively restricted region in comparison with normal innervation, their connections were apparently functional, as measured by a thermotaxis behavioral assay for the effects of UOB. The ther-motaxis behavior of most pups showing tubercle reinnervation returned to normal, while the behavior of pups without tubercle reinnervation remained similar to UOBs (Small and Leonard, ′82). Excessive rostral sprouting and invasion of neocortex were seen in all tract-sectioned pups and were, therefore, apparently not sufficient to sustain normal behavior on this assay. Regrowth of sensory olfactory fibers and extensive formation of glo-meruli in the anterior olfactory nucleus and, occasionally, in prefrontal neocortex were found following olfactory bulbectomy. There was no correlation between the extent of glomerulization and the behavioral performance, however. The olfactory system provides an appropriate system for investigating the parameters governing age-dependent axonal sprouting and functional recovery following early brain damage.

Effects of electrical stimulation of the human olfactory mucosa.

Abstract: Electrical stimulation of the human olfactory mucosa was performed by means of an electrode attached to a rhinoscope. Stimulation of the nasal mucosa did not evoke smell sensations, but suppressed sme

Olfactory Food and Mate Recognition

Abstract: Olfaction has many facets — membrane excitability, cellular neurophysiology, ethology, orientation physiology, ecology, evolution, psychophysics etc. To combine several of these aspects with the aim of understanding an animal’s activities in its natural environment — this we could learn from men like K.D. Roeder, who made clear that one must understand an animal’s biology, and behaviour, and its nervous system in order to be able to ask reasonable questions about any one of these aspects. He with others awoke our interest in the neurobiological basis of behaviour. E.S. Hodgson, a collaborator of Roeder, with the help of one of Y. Lettwin’s good experimental ideas, successfully tackled such a problem in the area of chemoreception (Hodgson et al. 1955). He and his co-authors studied reactions of individually identifiable receptor cells in an insect taste hair. This method opened new access to the neural coding of olfactory stimuli at the receptor cell level amongst other problems. In the years after this pioneering work, a vast amount of data was collected on reactions of insect olfactory receptor cells (Kaissling 1971). Today we can say that the advantageous conditions which insect provide for such investigations led to results which are important for the understanding of chemoreceptors in general. This, of course, provided a good background for a study of the central olfactory pathway in insects, and one hope is that this might be a way to understand the role of the central networks which control reactions of animals to odours.

Olfactory receptor systems for sex pheromone mimics in the American cockroach, Periplaneta americana L.

Abstract: By application of a differential saturation EAG technique, the olfactory receptor system for compounds active as sex pheromones in the American cockroach was elucidated. The interaction of sex pheromone mimics with receptors responsive to a sex pheromone (periplanone-B) was revealed. As suggested by the single cell recording studies, the presence of sex pheromone receptors responsive specifically to sex pheromones (periplanone-A and-B) was shown, as well as the presence of general odor receptors which are functionally different from the sex pheromone receptors.

Influence of Chemical Receptivity On Reproductive Behaviour of the Male Three-Spined Stickleback (Gasterosteus Aculeatus L.)

Abstract: The present investigation is concerned with chemoreceptivity in the male three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus L.) during reproductive behaviour. The functions of cranial nerves were studied with regard to nest building (N), the increase in the zigzag dance (a measure of the sexual tendency (S)) between N and the day of fertilization (F) of the eggs, the zigzag dance between F and the day of hatching (H), suppression of the zigzag dance (if still present) at H, and fanning activity (P) during these days of a reproductive cycle (F-H). The methods of quantifying S and P, as well as the methods of sectioning the olfactory nerves and the branches of cranial nerves possibly involved in the conduction of chemical stimuli are described. The behavioural changes observed after sectioning the olfactory nerves, branches of cranial nerves or combinations of these nerves are compared with behavioural data of unoperated fish. Special attention is given to behavioural changes following regeneration of transected nerves. Nest building is still possible after sectioning of the olfactory nerves, but occurs only in a few fish. The functioning of the olfactory nerves might influence the development of nest building behaviour by inducing hormonal changes, necessary to start such reproductive activities. During the period between N and F (the latter determined by the observer), the number of zigzags (S) increases from zero up to 100 or more per 5 minutes. The olfactory nerves are indispensable for the promotion of sexual behaviour during this period. It seems likely that these nerves are necessary to induce hormonal changes in such a way that the reproductive cycle can proceed from nest building to courtship stage. In the exceptional case that a nest was built by a fish in which the olfactory nerves had been sectioned, the zigzag score remaining low, all other reproductive activities still occurred, including fertilization. Fanning activity in such fish appeared to be quantitatively normal. When the olfactory nerves were sectioned between N and F, at a stage when the zigzag scores had reached an essential level ( 100 per 5 min), both sexual and fanning activity between F and H were normal. This is explained by the supplementary functioning of both the ramus posttrematicus IX and the ramus pretrematicus X1. Both eggs and embryos stimulate sexual behaviour between F and H. The olfactory nerves exert an exciting function with regard to sexual behaviour during the first days of the cycle (F-H). The area in the roof of the pharynx, situated between the first and second gill arches appeared to perceive stimuli from eggs and embryos, exciting sexual behaviour (referred to as sex-excitation area). The sensory fibres from this area run in a dorsal direction, some joining the rami pharyngei X1, others one of the rami pharyngei IX (referred to as the S-anastomosis), their excitation increasing during the course of the cycle. The S-anastomosis which joins the ramus posttrematicus IX near or just dorsal of the second arteria branchialis dorsalis, exites sexual behaviour during most days of the cycle (F-H). Similarly, the rami pharyngei X1 which join the ramus pretrematicus X1 at a point dorsal of the second arteria branchialis dorsalis, excite sexual behaviour during the last days of the cycle. The presence of young following hatching suppresses sexual behaviour, if still present, at H. Such stimuli are perceived by the rami pharyngei IX, which join the ramus posttrematicus IX near or dorsal to the first arteria branchialis dorsalis. Perceiving such stimuli results in an immediate suppression of sexual behaviour. Both eggs and embryos also stimulate fanning behaviour between F and H. Our experiments have shown that the following three nerves are involved in the conduction of such stimuli: nervus olfactorius, ramus posstrematicus IX (including its anastomosis with the ramus pretrematicus X1, referred to as the F-anastomosis), and the ramus pretrematicus X1. The involvement of the cranial nerves I, IX and X in the reproductive activities of the male three-spined stickleback is illustrated in a schematic way in Fig. 27.