An olfactory biconditional discrimination in the mouse

Dreumont-Boudreau, Sarah E.; Dingle, Rachel N.; Alcolado, Gillian M.; LoLordo, Vincent M.

doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2006.01.001

Cited by 12 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…in audition (Purwins et al, 2008); vision (Noudoost et al, 2005); audition and vision (Kubovy and Van Valkenburg, 2001); gustation and olfaction (Batson et al, 2008)], according which stimulus compounds (mixtures) are represented by their components and an additional configural element that represents the conjunction of those stimuli, is consistent with blending process in odour mixture. The present study confirms for rabbit pups that the blending effect of the AB mixture is incomplete (Dreumont-Boudreau et al, 2006), and thus that the configural perception of AB is weak (Kay et al, 2005), as was previously hypothesized (Coureaud et al, 2008). In other words, when smelt, the AB mixture would give rise to the perception of the odour of the components as well as the additional odour of the configuration related to the mixture.…”

Section: G Coureaud and Otherssupporting

confidence: 90%

“…Apart from these phenomena linked to experience, the processing of odorants in mixtures may also result from perceptual interactions that probably occur during olfactory information processing. Thus, overshadowing or odour blending have been suggested to happen both in animals and humans Dreumont-Boudreau et al, 2006). Some researches have focused on the behavioural consequences of these perceptual interactions of odours, with the aim of improving the understanding of odour-guided behaviour in the natural environment (Derby et al, 1996;Valentincic et al, 2000;Wiltrout et al, 2003;Kay et al, 2005;Deisig et al, 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Elemental and configural processing of odour mixtures in the newborn rabbit

Coureaud

Hamdani

Schaal

et al. 2009

Journal of Experimental Biology

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SUMMARYThe processing of odour mixtures by young organisms is poorly understood. Recently, the perception of an AB mixture, known to engage configural perception in adult humans, was suggested also to be partially configural in newborn rabbits. In particular, pups did not respond to AB after they had learned A or B. However, two alternative hypotheses might be suggested to explain this result: the presence in the mixture of a novel odorant that inhibits the response to the learned stimulus, and the unevenness of the sensory and cognitive processes engaged during the conditioning and the behavioural testing. We conducted four experiments to explore these alternative hypotheses. In experiment 1, the learning of A or B ended in responses to mixtures including a novel odorant (AC or BC). Experiment 2 pointed to the absence of overshadowing. Therefore, a novelty effect cannot explain the non-response to AB after the learning of A or B. In experiment 3, pups having learned A or B in AC or BC did not respond to AB. However, they generalized odour information acquired in AB to AC or BC in experiment 4. Thus, the balancing of the perceptual tasks between the conditioning and retention test does not enhance the response to the AB mixture. To sum up, the present experiments give concrete support to the partially configural perception of specific odour mixtures by newborn rabbits.

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Section: G Coureaud and Otherssupporting

confidence: 90%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Elemental and configural processing of odour mixtures in the newborn rabbit

Coureaud

Hamdani

Schaal

et al. 2009

Journal of Experimental Biology

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“…In human adults, an AB mixture composed of ethyl isobutyrate (A) and ethyl maltol (B), smelling like strawberry and caramel, respectively, induces the configural perception of 'pineapple' (Le Barkat et al, 2011). Such a mixture has been called a blending mixture (Dreumont-Boudreau et al, 2006;Le Berre et al, 2008;Le Berre et al, 2010;Barkat et al, 2011). Recently, configural perception of the same AB mixture has also been reported in newborn rabbits: after a single conditioning to AB, pups respond to odorants A and B, showing abilities to extract the odour of each element during conditioning.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experience influences elemental and configural perception of certain binary odour mixtures in newborn rabbits

Sinding

Thomas‐Danguin

Crépeaux

et al. 2011

Journal of Experimental Biology

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SUMMARYElemental and configural olfactory perception allows interaction with the environment from very early in life. To evaluate how newborn rabbits can extract and respond to information from the highly complex chemical surroundings, and how experience acts on this sensory, cognitive and behavioural capability, we ran a study in four steps including a total of eight experiments. We mainly used a binary AB mixture comprising ethyl isobutyrate (component A) and ethyl maltol (component B), previously shown as a bearer of blending properties; in rabbit pups (as in human adults), the mixture elicits a weak configural perception, i.e. the perception of a configural odour different from the odours of the components. First, a repeated exposure to one component of AB led to a more elemental perception of this mixture; conversely, a repeated exposure to AB facilitated its configural processing. Second, similar impact of experience did not appear with a non-blending AC mixture (ethyl isobutyrate-guaïacol). Third, repeated exposure to AB impacted not only the perception of AB, but also and in the same way the perception of the AC mixture sharing one component, and reciprocally. However, facilitation to perceive one mixture in one mode (configural/elemental) was not generalized to a mixture sharing no components with the experienced mixture [AB versus DE (damascenone and vanillin)]. Thus, experience contributes to the neonatal perception of odour mixtures and adds plasticity to the perceptual system. However, this impact remains dependent on the chemical composition of the mixtures.

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“…Olfactory cues are detectable over large temporal and spatial scales (11) and initiate search behavior in a wide variety of predators (12). Mammalian predators live in a rich olfactory world, able to detect and recognize immense numbers of odors and distinguish minute differences in complex mixtures (13,14). Such capabilities should hinder efficient foraging unless superfluous olfactory information can be quickly disregarded (15,16).…”

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confidence: 99%

Exploiting olfactory learning in alien rats to protect birds’ eggs

Price

Banks

2012

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Predators must ignore unhelpful background "noise" within information-rich environments and focus on useful cues of prey activity to forage efficiently. Learning to disregard unrewarding cues should happen quickly, weakening future interest in the cue. Prey odor, which is rapidly investigated by predators, may be particularly appropriate for testing whether consistently unrewarded cues are ignored, and whether such behavior can be exploited to benefit prey. Using wild free-ranging populations of black rats, Rattus rattus, an alien predator of global concern, we tested whether the application of bird-nesting odors before the introduction of artificial nests (odor preexposure), enhanced the survival of birds eggs (prey) compared with areas where prey and nesting odors were introduced concurrently. In areas where predators had encountered prey odor before prey being available, the subsequently introduced eggs showed 62% greater survival than in areas where prey and odor were introduced together. We suggest that black rats preexposed to prey odor learned to ignore the unrewarding cue, leading to a significant improvement in prey survival that held for the 7-d monitoring period. Exploiting rapid learning that underpins foraging decisions by manipulating sensory contexts offers a nonlethal, but effective approach to reducing undesirable predatory impacts. Techniques based on olfactory preexposure may provide prey with protection during critical periods of vulnerability, such as immediately following a prey reintroduction. These results also highlight the potential benefits to species conservation to be gained from a greater understanding of the cognitive mechanisms driving alien predator behavior within ecological contexts.predation | sensory learning | habituation | foraging behavior | information use E fficient predators must identify and then pursue cues of profitable prey while ignoring stimuli that have proved unrewarding (1, 2). Such optimal foraging tactics rely on complex discrimination tasks being made rapidly and accurately within dynamic environments and benefit from attentional mechanisms, such as search images (3, 4), which assist the hunter to focus on useful information. How unrewarding prey cues are ignored remains unexplored in ecological contexts, despite the obvious fitness advantage for generalist predators switching between multiple prey. Being able to deceive predators into ignoring relevant cues may also have practical implications for assisting the survival of vulnerable prey that have ineffective defenses, such as some native prey facing alien predators (5).Optimal behavior models imply that previous experience influences whether a predator pursues or ignores prey cues (6, 7). In a study examining predatory behavior in wild red squirrels Tamiasciurus hudsonicus, Pelech et al. (8) showed that squirrels experienced in finding artificial nests containing food found nests quicker than nonexperienced animals. Successful foraging experience facilitated faster detection of nests and increased prey vu...

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An olfactory biconditional discrimination in the mouse

Cited by 12 publications

References 54 publications

Elemental and configural processing of odour mixtures in the newborn rabbit

Elemental and configural processing of odour mixtures in the newborn rabbit

Experience influences elemental and configural perception of certain binary odour mixtures in newborn rabbits

Exploiting olfactory learning in alien rats to protect birds’ eggs

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