title: Brain processing of a configural vs elemental odor mixture in the newborn rabbit.
abstract: Organisms are surrounded throughout life by chemically complex odors. How individuals process an odorant within a mixture or a mixture as a whole is a key question in neuroethology and chemical senses. This question is addressed here by using newborn rabbits, which can be rapidly conditioned to a new stimulus by single association with the mammary pheromone. After conditioning to ethyl maltol (odorant B), pups behaviorally respond to B and an A'B' mixture (68/32 ratio) but not to ethyl isobutyrate (odorant A) or an AB mixture (30/70 ratio). This suggests elemental and configural perception of A'B' and AB, respectively. We then explored the neural substrates underlying the processing of these mixtures with the hypothesis that processing varies according to perception. Pups were pseudoconditioned or conditioned to B on postnatal day 3 before exposure to B, A'B' or AB on day 4. Fos expression was not similar between groups (mainly in the olfactory bulb and posterior piriform cortex) suggesting a differential processing of the stimuli that might reflect either stimulus complexity or conditioning effect. Thus, the ratio of components in A'B' vs AB leads to differential activation of the olfactory system which may contribute to elemental and configural percepts of these mixtures. In addition, together with recent behavioral data, this highlights that configural perception occurs even in relatively immature animals, emphasizing the value of the newborn rabbit for exploration of odor mixture processing from molecules to brain and behavior.
authors.affiliation: Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l'Alimentation, Developmental ethology and cognitive psychology group, UMR 6265 CNRS, 1324 INRA, Université de Bourgogne, 21000, Dijon, France. nanette@finistere-virtuell.de.
authors.forename: Nanette Y
authors.initials: NY
authors.lastname: Schneider
authors.affiliation: Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l'Alimentation, Plasticity of neuronal circuits of food intake group, UMR 6265 CNRS, 1324 INRA, Université de Bourgogne, 21000, Dijon, France.
authors.forename: Frédérique
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Datiche
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University Langone School of Medicine, New York, NY, 10016, USA.
authors.forename: Donald A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.affiliation: Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l'Alimentation, Developmental ethology and cognitive psychology group, UMR 6265 CNRS, 1324 INRA, Université de Bourgogne, 21000, Dijon, France.
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Gigot
authors.affiliation: Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l'Alimentation, Molecular interaction and flavor perception group, UMR 6265 CNRS, 1324 INRA, Université de Bourgogne, 21000, Dijon, France.
authors.forename: Thierry
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Thomas-Danguin
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Nutrition et Neurobiologie Intégrée, UMR 1286 INRA, 33000, Bordeaux, France.|Université de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France.
authors.forename: Guillaume
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.affiliation: Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l'Alimentation, Developmental ethology and cognitive psychology group, UMR 6265 CNRS, 1324 INRA, Université de Bourgogne, 21000, Dijon, France. gerard.coureaud@u-bourgogne.fr.
authors.forename: Gérard
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Coureaud
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D003213:Conditioning, Psychological; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D009812:Odorants; D009830:Olfactory Bulb / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D055696:Olfactory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D010675:Pheromones / Q000008:administration & dosage; D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos / Q000378:metabolism; D011817:Rabbits
chemical_list: D010675:Pheromones; D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos
keywords: Configural perception; Newborn; Odor mixtures; Olfactory system; Peripheral and central processing; Rabbit