Olfactory recognition: a simple memory system.
Mice have an olfactory (pheromone) recognition memory located at the first relay in the sensory system. It is acquired with one-trial learning, contingent upon norepinephrine activation at mating, and lasts for several weeks. The mechanism involves Hebbian (association-dependent) changes in synaptic efficacy at dendrodendritic synapses in the accessory olfactory bulb. As a result of this memory, males made familiar by mating are recognized by the females, thereby mitigating pregnancy block. Such a memory function is biologically important to the female, as it is required to sustain pregnancy in the presence of her stud male's odors.
Brennan
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Sub-Department of Animal Behaviour, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom.
Kaba
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Keverne
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D000679:Amygdala / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D007031:Hypothalamus / Q000502:physiology; D008012:Lidocaine / Q000494:pharmacology; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008808:Mice, Inbred CBA; D016202:N-Methylaspartate / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000502:physiology; D009638:Norepinephrine / Q000502:physiology; D009830:Olfactory Bulb / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D009833:Olfactory Pathways / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D010675:Pheromones / Q000652:urine; D011247:Pregnancy; D011270:Pregnancy, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate / Q000502:physiology; D012098:Reproduction / Q000502:physiology; D012903:Smell / Q000502:physiology*; D013569:Synapses / Q000502:physiology
D010675:Pheromones; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate; D016202:N-Methylaspartate; D008012:Lidocaine; D009638:Norepinephrine