Pheromone-Induced Odor Associative Fear Learning in Rats

Carew, Samantha J.; Mukherjee, Bandhan; MacIntyre, Iain T K; Ghosh, Abhinaba; Li, Sa; Kirouac, Gilbert J.; Harley, Carolyn W.; Yuan, Qi

doi:10.1038/s41598-018-36023-w

Cited by 21 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…Our findings differ from prior works suggesting that in newborn rabbits 5 and in adult rats 3 , 4 , pheromone components can substitute unconditioned stimuli and mediate learning when paired with conditioned odorants or context. In our work, pheromonal components were neither present during learning, nor did we show that GER or 2H replace sucrose.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

“…In particular, if exposure to pheromones affects in a durable way subsequent associative learning and memory remains unknown. Research on rodents 3 , 4 and rabbits 5 has shown that some pheromone components can replace reinforcing stimuli during associative conditioning and mediate the learning of odor or contextual cues. In contrast to these works, we asked if prior exposure to pheromone components induces subsequent and persistent motivational changes affecting the way in which animals learn and memorize when the pheromone signals are no longer present.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Pheromone components affect motivation and induce persistent modulation of associative learning and memory in honey bees

et al. 2020

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Since their discovery in insects, pheromones are considered as ubiquitous and stereotyped chemical messengers acting in intraspecific animal communication. Here we studied the effect of pheromones in a different context as we investigated their capacity to induce persistent modulations of associative learning and memory. We used honey bees, Apis mellifera , and combined olfactory conditioning and pheromone preexposure with disruption of neural activity and two-photon imaging of olfactory brain circuits, to characterize the effect of pheromones on olfactory learning and memory. Geraniol, an attractive pheromone component, and 2-heptanone, an aversive pheromone, improved and impaired, respectively, olfactory learning and memory via a durable modulation of appetitive motivation, which left odor processing unaffected. Consistently, interfering with aminergic circuits mediating appetitive motivation rescued or diminished the cognitive effects induced by pheromone components. We thus show that these chemical messengers act as important modulators of motivational processes and influence thereby animal cognition.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pheromone components affect motivation and induce persistent modulation of associative learning and memory in honey bees

et al. 2020

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“…As such, social context profoundly affects vertebrate learning. For example, alarm pheromones are known to enhance fear conditioning in rats, which is mediated by norepinephrine signalling 135 . Zebra finch song learning is another classic example where social context affects learning in vertebrates.…”

Section: Bridging Neuromodulation In Invertebrate and Vertebrate Learmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, alarm pheromones are known to enhance fear conditioning in rats, which is mediated by norepinephrine signalling. 135 Zebra finch song learning is another classic example where social context affects learning in vertebrates. Socially interacting zebra finches perform better at song learning than those that are kept from interacting, an effect mediated by dopamine release upon social interactions.…”

Section: Reproductive Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neuromodulatory pathways in learning and memory: Lessons from invertebrates

Damme

Fruyt

Watteyne

et al. 2020

J Neuroendocrinology

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In an ever‐changing environment, animals have to continuously adapt their behaviour. The ability to learn from experience is crucial for animals to increase their chances of survival. It is therefore not surprising that learning and memory evolved early in evolution and are mediated by conserved molecular mechanisms. A broad range of neuromodulators, in particular monoamines and neuropeptides, have been found to influence learning and memory, although our knowledge on their modulatory functions in learning circuits remains fragmentary. Many neuromodulatory systems are evolutionarily ancient and well‐conserved between vertebrates and invertebrates. Here, we highlight general principles and mechanistic insights concerning the actions of monoamines and neuropeptides in learning circuits that have emerged from invertebrate studies. Diverse neuromodulators have been shown to influence learning and memory in invertebrates, which can have divergent or convergent actions at different spatiotemporal scales. In addition, neuromodulators can regulate learning dependent on internal and external states, such as food and social context. The strong conservation of neuromodulatory systems, the extensive toolkit and the compact learning circuits in invertebrate models make these powerful systems to further deepen our understanding of neuromodulatory pathways involved in learning and memory.

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“…However, just as the caregiver may buffer stress, the caregiver is also well positioned to exacerbate or transmit stress to the infant in contexts of increased adversity. Rodent research has demonstrated that caregivers can communicate information about threat via social exchanges, including from mothers to her pups, via CORT-mediated mechanisms (Carew et al, 2018; Debiec & Sullivan, 2014; Keum & Shin, 2019; Monfils & Agee, 2019; Rickenbacher, Perry, Sullivan, & Moita, 2017). Similar human research has documented social transmission of stress from mother to infants (Halevi et al, 2017; Hibel, Trumbell, Valentino, & Buhler-Wassmann, 2018; Hibel, Mercado, & Valentino, 2019; Waters et al, 2014).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Elevated infant cortisol is necessary but not sufficient for transmission of environmental risk to infant social development: Cross-species evidence of mother–infant physiological social transmission

et al. 2020

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Environmental adversity increases child susceptibility to disrupted developmental outcomes, but the mechanisms by which adversity can shape development remain unclear. A translational cross-species approach was used to examine stress-mediated pathways by which poverty-related adversity can influence infant social development. Findings from a longitudinal sample of low-income mother–infant dyads indicated that infant cortisol (CORT) on its own did not mediate relations between early-life scarcity-adversity exposure and later infant behavior in a mother-child interaction task. However, maternal CORT through infant CORT served as a mediating pathway, even when controlling for parenting behavior. Findings using a rodent “scarcity-adversity” model indicated that pharmacologically blocking pup corticosterone (CORT, rodent equivalent to cortisol) in the presence of a stressed mother causally prevented social transmission of scarcity-adversity effects on pup social behavior. Furthermore, pharmacologically increasing pup CORT without the mother present was not sufficient to disrupt pup social behavior. Integration of our cross-species results suggests that elevated infant CORT may be necessary, but without elevated caregiver CORT, may not be sufficient in mediating the effects of environmental adversity on development. These findings underscore the importance of considering infant stress physiology in relation to the broader social context, including caregiver stress physiology, in research and interventional efforts.

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Pheromone-Induced Odor Associative Fear Learning in Rats

Cited by 21 publications

References 53 publications

Pheromone components affect motivation and induce persistent modulation of associative learning and memory in honey bees

Pheromone components affect motivation and induce persistent modulation of associative learning and memory in honey bees

Neuromodulatory pathways in learning and memory: Lessons from invertebrates

Elevated infant cortisol is necessary but not sufficient for transmission of environmental risk to infant social development: Cross-species evidence of mother–infant physiological social transmission

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