Developmental changes in elemental and configural perception of odor mixtures in young rabbits

Coureaud, Gérard; Letagneaux, Chloé; Thomas‐Danguin, Thierry; Romagny, Sébastien

doi:10.1002/dev.21929

Cited by 6 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…As a consequence, some new elements (odorants) from the external chemical environment appears to become relevant for the young organism, the olfactory system favoring their detection from the OR level, while remaining reactive to spontaneously valuable stimuli (as the MP). In ecological conditions of mother-young interactions, MP-induced odor learning is functional when the mother comes into the nest to nurse her litter and newborns are exposed to odor cues carried by her body during nursing, allowing them to acquire odors contemporarily present in the living environment of the mother and social group [18,76].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The stimuli were the mammary pheromone (MP; 2-methylbut-2-enal; CAS# 497-03-0), ethyl isobutyrate (odorant A; CAS# 97-62-1), ethyl maltol (odorant B; CAS# 4940-11-8), and their mixtures (all the odorants were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich; Saint-Quentin-Fallavier, France). The latter were AB (30/70 ratio), which was reported as generating a configural perception of a pineapple odor in human adults (e.g., [19,53]), adult mice [20], and weak configural perception in newborn rabbits (e.g., [16][17][18]22]), and A'B' (68/32 ratio), which generates elemental perception in both human adults [19,53], mice [20] and newborn rabbits (e.g., [16][17][18]22]).…”

Section: Stimulimentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Strikingly, elemental and configural perceptions are both functional from early in life. Thus, newborn rabbits perceive weak configurally a binary AB mixture of element A (ethyl isobutyrate) and B (ethyl maltol) [16][17][18], which is also perceived configurally in human adults [e.g., 19] and adult mice [20]. The ratio of components is a crucial factor in this perception.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Brief olfactory learning drives perceptive sensitivity in newborn rabbits: New insights in peripheral processing of odor mixtures and induction

Duchamp‐Viret

Boyer

Villa

et al. 2021

Physiology & Behavior

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Perception of the wide, complex and moving odor world requires that the olfactory system engages processing mechanisms ensuring detection, discrimination and environment adaptation, as early as the peripheral stages. Odor items are mainly elicited by odorant mixtures which give rise to either elemental or configural perceptions. Here, we first explored the contribution of the peripheral olfactory system to configural and elemental perception through odorant interactions at the olfactory receptor (OR) level. This was done in newborn rabbits, which offer the opportunity to pair peripheral electrophysiology and well characterized behavioral responses to two binary mixtures, AB and A'B', which differ in their component ratio (A: ethyl isobutyrate, B: ethyl maltol), and that rabbit pups respectively perceived configurally and elementally. Second, we studied the influence on peripheral reactivity of the brief but powerful learning of one mixture component (odorant B), conditioned by association with the mammary pheromone (MP), which allowed us to assess the possible implication of the phenomenon called induction in neonatal odor learning. Induction is a plasticity mechanism expected to alter both the peripheral electrophysiological responses to, and perceptual detection threshold of, the conditioned stimulus. The results reveal that perceptual modes are partly rooted in differential peripheral processes, the AB configurally perceived mixture mirroring odorant antagonist interactions at OR level to a lesser extent than the A'B' elementally perceived mixture. Further, the results highlight that a single and brief MP-induced odor learning episode is sufficient to alter peripheral responses to the conditioned stimulus and mixtures including it, and shifts the conditioned stimulus detection threshold towards lower concentrations. Thus, MP-induced odor learning relies on induction phenomenon in newborn rabbits.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Stimulimentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Brief olfactory learning drives perceptive sensitivity in newborn rabbits: New insights in peripheral processing of odor mixtures and induction

Duchamp‐Viret

Boyer

Villa

et al. 2021

Physiology & Behavior

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“…This study tested the hypothesis that the EI.EM mixture supports configural perception in honey bees, as was observed in humans, rabbits and rodents (e.g. Le Berre et al, 2008b;Coureaud et al, 2020;Wilson et al, 2020). This mixture was composed of ethyl isobutyrate (EI, CAS number: 97-62-1) and ethyl maltol (EM, CAS number: 4940-11-8), in a 50/50 v/v dilution of pure EI and 10% EM in ethanol.…”

Section: Olfactory Stimulimentioning

confidence: 86%

Configural perception of a binary olfactory mixture in honey bees as in humans, rodents and newborn rabbits

Wycke

Coureaud

Thomas‐Danguin

et al. 2020

Journal of Experimental Biology

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How animals perceive and learn complex stimuli, such as mixtures of odorants is a difficult problem, for which the definition of general rules across the animal kingdom remains elusive. Recent experiments conducted in human and rodent adults as well as newborn rabbits suggested that these species process particular odor mixtures in a similar, configural manner. Thus, the binary mixture of ethyl isobutyrate (EI) and ethyl maltol (EM) induces configural processing in humans, who perceive a mixture odor quality (pineapple) that is distinct from the quality of each component (strawberry and caramel). Similarly, rabbit neonates treat the mixture differently, at least in part, from its components. In the present study, we asked if the properties of the EI.EM mixture extend to an influential invertebrate model, the honey bee Apis mellifera. We used appetitive conditioning of the proboscis extension response to evaluate how bees perceive the EI.EM mixture. In a first experiment, we measured perceptual similarity between this mixture and its components in a generalization protocol. In a second experiment, we measured bees’ ability to differentiate between the mixture and both of its components in a negative patterning protocol. In each experimental series, bees' performances with this mixture were compared with those obtained with 4 other mixtures, chosen from previous work in humans, newborn rabbits and bees. Our results suggest that when having to differentiate mixture and components, bees treat the EI.EM in a robust configural manner, similarly to mammals, suggesting the existence of common perceptual rules across the animal kindgdom.

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“…These two types of olfactory processing have been studied in both animal [3][4][5][6][7][8] and human models [6,[9][10][11][12]. However, configural and elemental strategies have rarely been studied simultaneously on the same mixture [8,[13][14][15][16][17]. One way of comparing the relative effects of elemental and configural odor processing is by studying so-called blending mixtures.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Configural memory of a blending aromatic mixture reflected in activation of the left orbital part of the inferior frontal gyrus

Sinding

Hummel²,

Béno

et al. 2021

Behavioural Brain Research

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Blending aromatic mixtures components naturally fuse to form a unique odor -a configurationqualitatively different from each component's odor. Repeated exposure to the components either in the mixture or separately, favors respectively, configural and elemental processings. The neural bases of such processes are still unknown. We examined the brain correlates of the experienced-induced configural processing of a well-known model of binary blending odor mixture, the aromatic pineapple blending (AB, ethyl maltol + ethyl isobutyrate). Before fMRI recording, half of the participants were repeatedly exposed to the mixture (AB, group Gmix), with the other half exposed to its separate components (A and B; Gcomp). During the fMRI recording, all participants were stimulated with the mixture (AB) and the components (A and B). Finally, participants rated the number of odors perceived for each stimulus. Gmix perceived the AB mixture as less complex than did Gcomp. While Gcomp perceived the mixture as more complex than its components, Gmix did not. These results show the presence of experience-induced configural or elemental processing of the AB mixture in each group.Contrasting the brain activity of Gcomp and Gmix, when stimulated with AB, revealed higher activation in the left orbital part of the inferior frontal gyrus. This result sheds light on this area's function, commonly found activated in olfactory studies, and closely connected with the lateral orbitofrontal cortex. We discuss the role of this area as a mediator of configural percepts between temporal and orbitofrontal areas involved in configural memory processes.

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Developmental changes in elemental and configural perception of odor mixtures in young rabbits

Cited by 6 publications

References 57 publications

Brief olfactory learning drives perceptive sensitivity in newborn rabbits: New insights in peripheral processing of odor mixtures and induction

Brief olfactory learning drives perceptive sensitivity in newborn rabbits: New insights in peripheral processing of odor mixtures and induction

Configural perception of a binary olfactory mixture in honey bees as in humans, rodents and newborn rabbits

Configural memory of a blending aromatic mixture reflected in activation of the left orbital part of the inferior frontal gyrus

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