title: A method for the rapid automated assessment of olfactory function.
abstract: We have developed a strategy for the rapid high-throughput screening of odor responsivity in genetically altered mice (in fact, any experimentally altered animal). Specifically, the report presents the development and validation of a fully automated procedure based on the evaluation of an animal's stimulus-induced reflexive breathing response (i.e. sniffing behavior) to both air and odorant stimuli. The method requires no training of the animal to be screened and the outcome of the evaluation yields an operationally defined measure. Briefly, using whole-body plethysmography, the procedure determines the numerical values for a set of 14 respiratory measures in response to the presentation of air and a well-above-threshold concentration of the odorant propanol. These measures of stimulus-induced sniffing are incorporated into a model that defines a single univariate measure of response behavior, or 'Sniffing Index', for each screened animal. The approach significantly discriminated between the reflexive sniffing response of a control group of mice and that of an experimentally defined manipulated group for which, a priori, we expected to observe a robust altered breathing response to odorant stimulation (i.e. non-odor-aversion-conditioned versus odor-aversion-conditioned C57BL/6J mice). Further, the procedure was able to significantly discriminate between a mutant phenotype with documented alterations in physiologic and behavioral function (namely, the OMP-null mutant), and their background strain. In addition, applying epidemiologic screening principles to the observed data, we established an operational procedure for the evaluation of unknown animals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience and Physiology, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Institute for Human Performance, 750 East Adams Street, Syracuse, NY 13210. USA. youngens@upstate.edu
authors.forename: Steven L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Youngentob
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D016296:Mutagenesis; D009812:Odorants; D009831:Olfactory Mucosa / Q000502:physiology; D009833:Olfactory Pathways / Q000502:physiology*; D010812:Physical Stimulation; D010993:Plethysmography, Whole Body / Q000379:methods; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; D012903:Smell / Q000502:physiology*
references.citation: Nat Neurosci. 2000 Nov;3(11):1113-20
references.pmid: 11036268
references.citation: Neuron. 2000 Sep;27(3):487-97
references.pmid: 11055432
references.citation: Physiol Behav. 2001 Feb;72(3):379-85
references.pmid: 11274681
references.citation: Behav Neurosci. 2001 Jun;115(3):626-31
references.pmid: 11439451
references.citation: Chem Senses. 2001 Oct;26(8):953-63
references.pmid: 11595672
references.citation: Brain Res. 2002 Jun 21;941(1-2):62-71
references.pmid: 12031548
references.citation: Brain Res. 1988 Mar 15;444(1):95-103
references.pmid: 3129142
references.citation: Psychopharmacology (Berl). 1989;98(3):310-5
references.pmid: 2568654
references.citation: Behav Genet. 1990 Jul;20(4):499-509
references.pmid: 2175173
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1996 Sep 3;93(18):9858-63
references.pmid: 8790421
references.citation: Neuron. 1996 Oct;17(4):681-93
references.pmid: 8893025
references.citation: Cell. 1996 Nov 15;87(4):675-86
references.pmid: 8929536
references.citation: Development. 1997 Apr;124(8):1611-21
references.pmid: 9108377
references.citation: Physiol Behav. 1997 Dec;62(6):1241-52
references.pmid: 9383109
references.citation: Neuroscience. 1998 Jun;84(3):849-66
references.pmid: 9579789
references.citation: Physiol Behav. 1998 Dec 1;65(3):513-6
references.pmid: 9877418
references.citation: Neuron. 1998 Dec;21(6):1273-82
references.pmid: 9883721
references.citation: Neuroreport. 1999 Jan 18;10(1):15-9
references.pmid: 10094125
references.citation: Lipids. 1999;34 Suppl:S239-43
references.pmid: 10419165
references.citation: Physiol Behav. 2002 Aug;76(4-5):661-7
references.pmid: 12127006
references.citation: Cell. 2003 Aug 8;114(3):311-22
references.pmid: 12914696
references.citation: J Neurophysiol. 2003 Dec;90(6):3864-73
references.pmid: 12917392
references.citation: J Physiol. 2004 Jan 1;554(Pt 1):13-21
references.pmid: 14678486
references.citation: Behav Neurosci. 2004 Jun;118(3):636-42
references.pmid: 15174942
references.citation: J Psychol. 1966 Jul;63(2):291-7
references.pmid: 5966310
references.citation: Behav Genet. 1977 Mar;7(2):171-88
references.pmid: 869857
references.citation: Physiol Behav. 1980 May;24(5):957-63
references.pmid: 7403298
references.citation: Physiol Behav. 1980 May;24(5):965-70
references.pmid: 7403299
references.citation: J Gen Physiol. 1984 Feb;83(2):233-67
references.pmid: 6609222
references.citation: Physiol Behav. 1987;41(1):59-69
references.pmid: 3685154