Social motivation is reduced in vasopressin 1b receptor null mice despite normal performance in an olfactory discrimination task

AbstractLearning to associate the context in which a stimulus occurs is an important aspect of animal learning. We propose that the association of an olfactory stimulus with its multisensory context is mediated by projections from ventral hippocampal networks (vHC) to the anterior olfactory nucleus (AON). Using a contextually-cued olfactory discrimination task, rats were trained to associate two olfactory stimuli with different responses depending on visuo-spatial context. Temporary lesions of the AON or vHC impaired performance on this task. In contrast, such lesions did not impair performance on a non-contextual olfactory discrimination task. Moreover, vHC lesions also impaired performance on an analogous contextually-cued texture discrimination task, whereas AON lesions affected only olfactory contextual associations. We describe a distinct role for the AON in olfactory processing, and conclude that early olfactory networks such as the olfactory bulb and AON function as multimodal integration networks rather than processing olfactory signals exclusively.Significance statementContextual information has long been known to play a key role in cognitive functions such as memory and decision making. We here show the contextual modulation of neural information in early primary sensory networks and its effects on contextually conditional learned behavior. We propose that projections from ventral hippocampus to anterior olfactory nucleus convey contextual information to the early olfactory system, modulating sensory representations and olfactory perception. Using behavioral pharmacology and computational modeling, we show how established network structures can mediate multimodal information and use context to make olfactory decisions.

Download Full-text

The Basal Forebrain Modulates Neuronal Response in an Active Olfactory Discrimination Task

Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience ◽

10.3389/fncel.2020.00141 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 14 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Alexia Nunez-Parra ◽

Christian A. Cea-Del Rio ◽

Molly M. Huntsman ◽

Diego Restrepo

Keyword(s):

Basal Forebrain ◽

Discrimination Task ◽

Neuronal Response ◽

Olfactory Discrimination

Download Full-text

Neural coding of reward magnitude in the orbitofrontal cortex of the rat during a five-odor olfactory discrimination task

Learning & Memory ◽

10.1101/lm.546207 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 14 (6) ◽

pp. 446-456 ◽

Cited By ~ 41

Author(s):

E. van Duuren ◽

F. A. N. Escamez ◽

R. N.J.M.A. Joosten ◽

R. Visser ◽

A. B. Mulder ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Reward Magnitude ◽

Orbitofrontal Cortex ◽

Neural Coding ◽

Discrimination Task ◽

Olfactory Discrimination

Download Full-text

Specialized Face Perception Mechanisms Extract Both Part and Spacing Information: Evidence from Developmental Prosopagnosia

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience ◽

10.1162/jocn.2006.18.4.580 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 18 (4) ◽

pp. 580-593 ◽

Cited By ~ 95

Author(s):

Galit Yovel ◽

Brad Duchaine

Keyword(s):

Face Recognition ◽

Face Perception ◽

Face Processing ◽

Discrimination Task ◽

General Purpose ◽

Face Representation ◽

Lower Performance ◽

Processing Mechanisms ◽

Normal Performance ◽

Extract Information

It is well established that faces are processed by mechanisms that are not used with other objects. Two prominent hypotheses have been proposed to characterize how information is represented by these special mechanisms. The spacing hypothesis suggests that face-specific mechanisms primarily extract information about spacing among parts rather than information about the shape of the parts. In contrast, the holistic hypothesis suggests that faces are processed as nondecomposable wholes and, therefore, claims that both parts and spacing among them are integral aspects of face representation. Here we examined these hypotheses by testing a group of developmental prosopagnosics (DPs) who suffer from deficits in face recognition. Subjects performed a face discrimination task with faces that differed either in the spacing of the parts but not the parts (spacing task), or in the parts but not the spacing of the parts (part task). Consistent with the holistic hypothesis, DPs showed lower performance than controls on both the spacing and the part tasks, as long as salient contrast differences between the parts were minimized. Furthermore, by presenting similar spacing and part tasks with houses, we tested whether face-processing mechanisms are specific to faces, or whether they are used to process spacing information from any stimulus. DPs' normal performance on the tasks of two houses indicates that their deficit does not result from impairment in a general-purpose spacing mechanism. In summary, our data clearly support face-specific holistic hypothesis by showing that face perception mechanisms extract both part and spacing information.

Download Full-text

Significance of sniffing pattern during the acquisition of an olfactory discrimination task

Behavioural Brain Research ◽

10.1016/j.bbr.2016.06.039 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 312 ◽

pp. 341-354 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Laura Lefèvre ◽

Emmanuelle Courtiol ◽

Samuel Garcia ◽

Marc Thévenet ◽

Belkacem Messaoudi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Discrimination Task ◽

Olfactory Discrimination

Download Full-text

Olfactory neuronal responses in the primate orbitofrontal cortex: analysis in an olfactory discrimination task

Journal of Neurophysiology ◽

10.1152/jn.1996.75.4.1659 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 75 (4) ◽

pp. 1659-1672 ◽

Cited By ~ 124

Author(s):

H. D. Critchley ◽

E. T. Rolls

Keyword(s):

Orbitofrontal Cortex ◽

Discrimination Task ◽

Olfactory Discrimination ◽

Single Neurons ◽

Neuronal Responses ◽

Association Learning ◽

Odor Quality ◽

Olfactory Responses ◽

Differential Selectivity ◽

Surrounding Areas

1.The primate orbitofrontal cortex receives inputs from the primary olfactory (pyriform) cortex and also from the primary taste cortex. To investigate how olfactory information is encoded in the orbitofrontal cortex, the responses of single neurons in the orbitofrontal cortex and surrounding areas were recorded during the performance of an olfactory discrimination task. In the task, the delivery of one of eight different odors indicated that the monkey could lick to obtain a taste of sucrose. If one of two other odors was delivered from the olfactometer, the monkey had to refrain from licking, otherwise he received a taste of saline. 2. Of the 1,580 neurons recorded in the orbitofrontal cortex, 3.1% (48) had olfactory responses and 34 (2.2%) responded differently to the different odors in the task. The neurons responded with a typical latency of 180 ms from the onset of odorant delivery. 3. Of the olfactory neurons with differential responses in the task, 35% responded solely on the basis of the taste reward association of the odorants. Such neurons responded either to all the rewarded stimuli, and none of the saline-associated stimuli, or vice versa. 4. The remaining 65% of these neurons showed differential selectivity for the stimuli based on the odor quality and not on the taste reward association of the odor. 5. The findings show that the olfactory representation within the orbitofrontal cortex reflects for some neurons (65%) which odor is present independently of its association with taste reward, and that for other neurons (35%), the olfactory response reflects (and encodes) the taste association of the odor. The additional finding that some of the odor-responsive neurons were also responsive to taste stimuli supports the hypothesis that odor-taste association learning at the level of single neurons in the orbitofrontal cortex enables such cells to show olfactory responses that reflect the taste association of the odor.

Download Full-text