TY - JOUR
T1 - Ontogeny of olfaction
T2 - Development of the rats' sensitivity to urine and amyl acetate
AU - Alberts, Jeffrey R.
AU - May, Brad
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by a Biomedical Research Grant from Indiana University and Grant MH 28355 from the National Institute of Mental Health, both to JRA. Discussions with J. C. Craig, C. Mueller and S. L. Guth were especially helpful in the development of these studies. Requests for reprints should be sent to Jeffrey R. Alberts.
PY - 1980/5
Y1 - 1980/5
N2 - Rat pups, 1 to 17 days of age, were tested for sensitivity to two olfactants, amyl acetate and adult rat urine. Biological and non-biological olfactory stimuli were generated by sparging and delivered to subjects via a dilution olfactometer. Unconditioned respiratory responses, odor-induced polypnea and sniffing, were used to measure detection of an odorant injected into a background stream of filtered air. Amyl acetate was presented in an ascending series of concentrations. Pups of all ages detected amyl acetate; chemosensitivity increased with age to all 3 concentrations of this nonbiological stimulus. Two concentrations of adult rat urine odor were equated to the strength of amyl acetate for 9-day-olds. Each normalized urine stimulus was then tested across the full range of age groups. Again, there was a dramatic age-related increase in chemosensitivity. Moreover, there was no indication of differential sensitivity to these biological and non-biological olfactants. These data were discussed within methodological and conceptual frameworks related to analyses of early olfactory and behavioral ontogenesis.
AB - Rat pups, 1 to 17 days of age, were tested for sensitivity to two olfactants, amyl acetate and adult rat urine. Biological and non-biological olfactory stimuli were generated by sparging and delivered to subjects via a dilution olfactometer. Unconditioned respiratory responses, odor-induced polypnea and sniffing, were used to measure detection of an odorant injected into a background stream of filtered air. Amyl acetate was presented in an ascending series of concentrations. Pups of all ages detected amyl acetate; chemosensitivity increased with age to all 3 concentrations of this nonbiological stimulus. Two concentrations of adult rat urine odor were equated to the strength of amyl acetate for 9-day-olds. Each normalized urine stimulus was then tested across the full range of age groups. Again, there was a dramatic age-related increase in chemosensitivity. Moreover, there was no indication of differential sensitivity to these biological and non-biological olfactants. These data were discussed within methodological and conceptual frameworks related to analyses of early olfactory and behavioral ontogenesis.
KW - Amyl acetate
KW - Olfactometry
KW - Olfactory development
KW - Olfactory sensitivity
KW - Sniffing
KW - Urine odors
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U2 - 10.1016/0031-9384(80)90157-2
DO - 10.1016/0031-9384(80)90157-2
M3 - Article
C2 - 7403299
AN - SCOPUS:0019223126
SN - 0031-9384
VL - 24
SP - 965
EP - 970
JO - Physiology and Behavior
JF - Physiology and Behavior
IS - 5
ER -