Olfactory performance of rats after selective deafferentation of the olfactory bulb by 3-methyl indole.
Rats trained to detect propyl acetate and valeric acid and to discriminate between propyl acetate and amyl acetate and between valeric acid and butyric acid were injected with a low dose of 3-methyl indole, a treatment that produces well-defined and selective deafferentation of the olfactory bulbs. Treatment completely deafferented most but not all bulbar loci for aliphatic acids and at least disrupted those for propyl and amyl acetate. In posttreatment tests, experimental rats performed somewhat but not significantly more poorly than controls and about as well on the acid detection and discrimination tasks as on the corresponding acetate tests.
Slotnick
Burton
B
Department of Psychology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33620, USA. slotnic@american.edu
D000085:Acetates / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D002264:Carboxylic Acids / Q000494:pharmacology; D008297:Male; D009830:Olfactory Bulb / Q000187:drug effects*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D011984:Sensory Receptor Cells / Q000187:drug effects; D012684:Sensory Thresholds; D012862:Skatole / Q000494:pharmacology*; D012903:Smell / Q000187:drug effects*
D000085:Acetates; D002264:Carboxylic Acids; D012862:Skatole