Role of the vomeronasal system in intersexual attraction in female mice - PubMed (original) (raw)
Role of the vomeronasal system in intersexual attraction in female mice
J Martínez-Ricós et al. Neuroscience. 2008.
Abstract
Although it is generally accepted that rodents' sociosexual behavior relies mainly on chemosignals, the specific roles played by the vomeronasal and olfactory systems in detecting these signals are presently unclear. This work reports the results of three experiments aimed at clarifying the role of the vomeronasal system on gender recognition and intersexual attraction, by analyzing the effects of lesions of the accessory olfactory bulbs (AOB) in chemically naïve female mice. The first experiment demonstrates that lesions of the AOB abolish the preference that females show for male-soiled bedding in tests in which the females can contact the bedding, thus having access to both volatile and involatile male chemosignals. The second experiment shows that airborne male-derived chemosignals are not attractive to intact, chemically naïve females but tend to be preferentially explored by females whose AOB has been lesioned. However, repeated exposure to male-soiled bedding has opposite effects in sham-operated and AOB-lesioned female mice. Whereas after this experience sham-operated females show an (acquired) attraction toward male airborne chemosignals, in AOB-lesioned females the same experience makes male-derived volatiles aversive. Finally, in the third experiment we have confirmed that our AOB-lesioned females are able to detect urine-borne male odorants, as well as to discriminate them from the synthetic terpene geraniol. These findings strongly suggest that in mice, the involatile male sexual pheromone that is intrinsically attractive is detected by the vomeronasal system of the females. In addition, the repeated experience of females with male-soiled bedding would probably allow the association of this pheromone, acting as unconditioned stimulus, with olfactory stimuli (odorants) that therefore would become conditioned attractors to the females.
Similar articles
- Refining the dual olfactory hypothesis: pheromone reward and odour experience.
Martínez-García F, Martínez-Ricós J, Agustín-Pavón C, Martínez-Hernández J, Novejarque A, Lanuza E. Martínez-García F, et al. Behav Brain Res. 2009 Jun 25;200(2):277-86. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2008.10.002. Epub 2008 Oct 11. Behav Brain Res. 2009. PMID: 18977394 Review. - Attraction to sexual pheromones and associated odorants in female mice involves activation of the reward system and basolateral amygdala.
Moncho-Bogani J, Martinez-Garcia F, Novejarque A, Lanuza E. Moncho-Bogani J, et al. Eur J Neurosci. 2005 Apr;21(8):2186-98. doi: 10.1111/j.1460-9568.2005.04036.x. Eur J Neurosci. 2005. PMID: 15869515 - Integration and sensory experience-dependent survival of newly-generated neurons in the accessory olfactory bulb of female mice.
Oboti L, Savalli G, Giachino C, De Marchis S, Panzica GC, Fasolo A, Peretto P. Oboti L, et al. Eur J Neurosci. 2009 Feb;29(4):679-92. doi: 10.1111/j.1460-9568.2009.06614.x. Epub 2009 Feb 6. Eur J Neurosci. 2009. PMID: 19200078 - Importance of olfactory and vomeronasal systems for male sexual function.
Keverne EB. Keverne EB. Physiol Behav. 2004 Nov 15;83(2):177-87. doi: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2004.08.013. Physiol Behav. 2004. PMID: 15488538 Review.
Cited by
- Variation in mouse chemical signals is genetically controlled and environmentally modulated.
Stopková R, Matějková T, Dodoková A, Talacko P, Zacek P, Sedlacek R, Piálek J, Stopka P. Stopková R, et al. Sci Rep. 2023 May 26;13(1):8573. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-35450-8. Sci Rep. 2023. PMID: 37237091 Free PMC article. - Integrating pheromonal and spatial information in the amygdalo-hippocampal network.
Villafranca-Faus M, Vila-Martín ME, Esteve D, Merino E, Teruel-Sanchis A, Cervera-Ferri A, Martínez-Ricós J, Lloret A, Lanuza E, Teruel-Martí V. Villafranca-Faus M, et al. Nat Commun. 2021 Sep 6;12(1):5286. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-25442-5. Nat Commun. 2021. PMID: 34489431 Free PMC article. - Cell-Type-Specific Whole-Brain Direct Inputs to the Anterior and Posterior Piriform Cortex.
Wang L, Zhang Z, Chen J, Manyande A, Haddad R, Liu Q, Xu F. Wang L, et al. Front Neural Circuits. 2020 Feb 7;14:4. doi: 10.3389/fncir.2020.00004. eCollection 2020. Front Neural Circuits. 2020. PMID: 32116571 Free PMC article. - Quantitative inheritance of volatile pheromones and darcin and their interaction in olfactory preferences of female mice.
Liu YJ, Guo HF, Zhang JX, Zhang YH. Liu YJ, et al. Sci Rep. 2017 May 18;7(1):2094. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-02259-1. Sci Rep. 2017. PMID: 28522864 Free PMC article. - Glutamate and Opioid Antagonists Modulate Dopamine Levels Evoked by Innately Attractive Male Chemosignals in the Nucleus Accumbens of Female Rats.
Sánchez-Catalán MJ, Orrico A, Hipólito L, Zornoza T, Polache A, Lanuza E, Martínez-García F, Granero L, Agustín-Pavón C. Sánchez-Catalán MJ, et al. Front Neuroanat. 2017 Feb 23;11:8. doi: 10.3389/fnana.2017.00008. eCollection 2017. Front Neuroanat. 2017. PMID: 28280461 Free PMC article.
Publication types
MeSH terms
Substances
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources