Influence of sexual experience on olfactory sensory activity in mice

Abstract

Male mice undergo a striking behavioral switch after sexual experience: virgin males are infanticidal, but after sexual contact with a female they change their behavior towards the young, becoming non-aggressive, parenting individuals. In this project, our goal was to investigate the changes in olfactory sensory activity that accompany these behavioral changes. We used immunostaining to measure the activity levels in sensory neurons of one of the olfactory organs in the nasal cavity of mice, known as the vomeronasal organ. This approach was performed in virgin male mice and in males after varying periods of sexual contact and cohabitation with a female. As a result, we were able to correlate the olfactory sensory activity with the behavior in the same animal groups, and it became clear that, as mice become progressively less agressive during the switch, the sensory activity decreases.