title: Habitat odor can alleviate innate stress responses in mice.
abstract: Predatory odors, which can induce innate fear and stress responses in prey species, are frequently used in the development of animal models for several psychiatric diseases including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following a life-threatening event. We have previously shown that odors can be divided into at least three types; odors that act as (1) innate stressors, (2) as innate relaxants, or (3) have no innate effects on stress responses. Here, we attempted to verify whether an artificial odor, which had no innate effect on predatory odor-induced stress, could alleviate stress if experienced in early life as a habitat odor. In the current study, we demonstrated that the innate responses were changed to counteract stress following a postnatal experience. Moreover, we suggest that inhibitory circuits involved in stress-related neuronal networks and the concentrations of norepinephrine in the hippocampus may be crucial in alleviating stress induced by the predatory odor. Overall, these findings may be important for understanding the mechanisms involved in differential odor responses and also for the development of pharmacotherapeutic interventions that can alleviate stress in illnesses like PTSD.
authors.affiliation: Division of Anatomical Science, Department of Functional Morphology, Nihon University School of Medicine, 30-1 Oyaguchi-Kamicho, Itabashi, Tokyo 173-8610, Japan. Electronic address: matsukawa.mutsumi@nihon-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Mutsumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Matsukawa
authors.affiliation: Division of Anatomical Science, Department of Functional Morphology, Nihon University School of Medicine, 30-1 Oyaguchi-Kamicho, Itabashi, Tokyo 173-8610, Japan.
authors.forename: Masato
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Imada
authors.affiliation: Division of Anatomical Science, Department of Functional Morphology, Nihon University School of Medicine, 30-1 Oyaguchi-Kamicho, Itabashi, Tokyo 173-8610, Japan.
authors.forename: Shin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aizawa
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, 1-8-31 Midorigaoka, Ikeda, Osaka 563-8577, Japan.
authors.forename: Takaaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sato
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism; D017753:Ecosystem; D005239:Fear / Q000502:physiology; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008771:Nordefrin / Q000378:metabolism; D009812:Odorants; D009830:Olfactory Bulb / Q000378:metabolism; D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos / Q000378:metabolism; D012686:Septal Nuclei / Q000378:metabolism; D012903:Smell / Q000502:physiology*; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000378:metabolism / Q000517:prevention & control; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000378:metabolism / Q000517:prevention & control*
chemical_list: D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos; D008771:Nordefrin
keywords: Anterior piriform cortex; Bed nucleus of stria terminalis; Norepinephrine; Olfactory bulb; Predatory odor; c-fos