Sex differences in appetitive learning of mice

Mishima, Nobuko; Higashitani, Fusahiro; Teraoka, Kazuhiko; Yoshioka, Ryo

doi:10.1016/0031-9384(86)90230-1

Cited by 66 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Female-male differences have been observed in behavioral tests of motor activity (Frantz and Van Hartesveldt, 1999; Palanza et al, 2001; Schindler et al, 2002), fear and anxiety (Imhof et al, 1993), pain tolerance (Kepler et al, 1991; Aloisi et al, 1994; Terner et al, 2003), and measures of learning (Mishima et al, 1986). To our knowledge our study is the first to report this finding for texture preference.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rodents Rely on Merkel Cells for Texture Discrimination Tasks

et al. 2012

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The cutaneous somatosensory system contains multiple types of mechanoreceptors that detect different mechanical stimuli (Johnson, 2001). These stimuli, either alone or in combination, are ultimately interpreted by the brain as different aspects of the sense of touch. Psychophysical and electrophysiological experiments in humans and other mammals implicate one of these mechanoreceptors, the Merkel cell/neurite complex, in two-point discrimination and the detection of curvature, shape and texture (Johnson and Lamb, 1981; Johnson et al., 2000; Johnson, 2001). However, whether Merkel cell/neurite complex function is required for the detection of these stimuli is unknown. We genetically engineered mice that lack Merkel cells (Maricich et al., 2009; Morrison et al., 2009) to directly test the hypothesis that Merkel cell/neurite complexes are necessary to perform these types of sensory discrimination tasks. We found that mice devoid of Merkel cells could not detect textured surfaces with their feet while other measures of motor and sensory function were unaffected. Interestingly, these mice retained the ability to discriminate both texture and shape using their whiskers, suggesting that other somatosensory afferents can functionally substitute for Merkel cell/neurite complexes in this sensory organ. These findings suggest that Merkel cell/neurite complexes are essential for texture discrimination tasks involving glabrous skin but not whiskers.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rodents Rely on Merkel Cells for Texture Discrimination Tasks

et al. 2012

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“…Some evidence for female mice learning more slowly than males comes from the study by Mishima et al (1986). When asked to lever press for access to a food cup, fooddeprived males acquired the task more quickly than females.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enhanced urinary odor discrimination in female aromatase knockout (ArKO) mice

Wesson

Keller

Douhard

et al. 2006

Hormones and Behavior

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We asked whether odor discrimination abilities are sexually dimorphic in mice and, if so, whether the perinatal actions of estradiol contribute to these sex differences. The ability to discriminate different types of urinary odors was compared in male and female wild-type (WT) subjects and in mice with a homozygous-null mutation of the estrogen synthetic enzyme, aromatase (aromatase knockout; ArKO). Olfactory discrimination was assessed in WT and ArKO male and female mice after they were gonadectomized in adulthood and subsequently treated with estradiol benzoate. A liquid olfactometer was used to assess food-motivated olfactory discrimination capacity. All animals eventually learned to distinguish between urinary odors collected from gonadally intact males and estrous females; however, WT males as well as ArKO mice of both sexes learned this discrimination significantly more rapidly than WT females. Similar group differences were obtained when mice discriminated between urinary odors collected from gonadally intact vs. castrated males or between two non-social odorants, amyl and butyl acetate. When subjects had to discriminate volatile urinary odors from ovariectomized female mice treated with estradiol sequenced with progesterone versus estradiol alone, ArKO females quickly acquired the task whereas WT males and females as well as ArKO males failed to do so. These results demonstrated a strong sex dimorphism in olfactory discrimination ability, with WT males performing better than females. Furthermore, female ArKO mice showed an enhanced ability to discriminate very similar urinary odorants, perhaps due to an increased sensitivity of the main olfactory nervous system to adult estradiol treatment as a result of perinatal estrogen deprivation. © 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.Keywords: Estrogens; Sex differences; Olfaction; Odor discrimination; Learning Sex differences have been reported in olfactory sensitivity, with females being better able than males to detect male-derived odors. For instance, sows are significantly better than boars at using decreasing concentrations of the volatile male pig pheromone, androstenone, as a discriminative stimulus in operant tests for a sucrose reward (Dorries et al., 1995). In addition, using measurements of regional cerebral blood flow with positron emission tomography (Savic et al., 2001), women but not men show a significant activation of the preoptic area and ventromedial nuclei of the hypothalamus when actively smelling androstadienone, an androgenic compound secreted by the axillary glands in much higher concentrations in men than in women (Gower and Ruparelia, 1993). These sex differences in olfactory sensitivity are not only restricted to the detection of opposite sex odors, but also involve same-sex odors. For instance, using habituation/dishabituation tests to determine odor attraction thresholds, female mice respond more reliably than male mice to low concentrations of volatile urinary odors from either sex (Baum and Keverne, 2002;Pierman et al., 20...

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“…Sex differences should be considered as males and females may be differentially affected by gene mutations. For example, male and female ddY mice differ in the performance of spatial learning tasks but not in avoidance learning (Mishima et al 1986), and delta-168 transgenic mice show sex-linked changes in locomotor activity and learning (Douhet et al 1997). Genotype-by-sex interactions also have been found in tests of anxiety in 5-HT1A receptor knockout mice (Ramboz et al 1998).…”

Section: Procedural Questions For Designing Behavioral Studiesmentioning

confidence: 95%