Assessing olfactory performance in a New World primate, Saimiri sciureus.
Using a task designed to simulate olfactory-guided foraging behavior, this study demonstrates for the first time that olfactory performance can be reliably assessed in squirrel monkeys. Small flip-top vials were fixed in random order to the arms of a climbing frame and equipped with odorized strips signalling either that they contained a peanut food reward (S+) or that they did not (S-), and three adult female monkeys were allowed 1 min to harvest as many baited nuts from this tree as possible. Given five 1-min trials per day, animals took between 15 and 25 days to reach the criterion of 80% correct choices, could readily transfer to new S+ or S- stimuli, and could remember the task even after a 1-month break. The precision and consistency of the monkeys' performance in tests of discrimination ability and sensitivity demonstrate the suitability of this paradigm for assessing olfactory function, and a first test of human subjects using the same cups and odorants showed that it may also be used to directly compare olfactory performance in human and nonhuman primates.
Laska
M
M
Institut für Medizinische Psychologie, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, München, Germany.
Hudson
R
R
D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D001070:Appetitive Behavior; D004193:Discrimination Learning; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012453:Saimiri / Q000523:psychology*; D012684:Sensory Thresholds; D012903:Smell; D013045:Species Specificity