State-dependent responses to sex pheromones in mouse.
A single sensory cue can evoke different behaviors that vary by recipient. Responses may be influenced by sex, internal state, experience, genotype, and coincident environmental stimuli. Pheromones are powerful inducers of mouse behavior, yet pheromone responses are not always stereotyped. For example, male and female mice respond differently to sex pheromones while mothers and virgin females respond differently to pup cues. Here, we review the origins of variability in responses to reproductive pheromones. Recent advances have indicated how response variability may arise through modulation at different levels of pheromone-processing circuitry, from sensory neurons in the periphery to central neurons in the vomeronasal amygdala. Understanding mechanisms underlying conditional pheromone responses should reveal how neural circuits can be flexibly sculpted to alter behavior.
Department of Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 02037, United States. Electronic address: stowers@scripps.edu.
Lisa
L
Stowers
Department of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, United States.
Stephen D
SD
Liberles
D000679:Amygdala / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D051379:Mice; D011984:Sensory Receptor Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D012724:Sex Attractants / Q000502:physiology*; D012737:Sex Factors; D019147:Vomeronasal Organ / Q000502:physiology
D012724:Sex Attractants