QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

HOME  |   SEARCH  |   ARCHIVE  |   SUBSCRIBE  |   CONTACT  |   HELP

The Journal of Neuroscience, September 27, 2006, 26(39):9892-9901; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0504-06.2006

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Submit an eLetter Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (5) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by McBride, K. Articles by Slotnick, B. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by McBride, K. Articles by Slotnick, B.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Behavioral/Systems/Cognitive
Discrimination between the Enantiomers of Carvone and of Terpinen-4-ol Odorants in Normal Rats and Those with Lesions of the Olfactory Bulbs

Kathleen McBride¹ and Burton Slotnick²

¹Department of Psychology, American University, Washington, DC 20016, and ²Department of Psychology, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida 33620

Correspondence should be addressed to Dr. Burton Slotnick, University of South Florida, Department of Psychology, PCD 4118G, 4202 Fowler Avenue, Tampa, FL 33620. Email: slotnic{at}american.edu

We assessed (1) whether the enantiomers of terpinen-4-ol, odorants that activate nearly identical areas of the olfactory bulb, are more difficult to discriminate than those of carvone, odorants that activate different areas of the olfactory bulb, and (2) whether olfactory bulb lesions that disrupt the pattern of bulbar activation produced by these enantiomers degraded the ability of rats to discriminate between them. In psychophysical tests, normal rats discriminated between the enantiomers of terpinen-4-ol and of carvone equally well. Surgical lesions that removed the majority of bulbar glomeruli activated by these odorants (as demonstrated in previous olfactory bulb studies using intrinsic optical imaging and 2-deoxyglucose) resulted in increased detection thresholds but few or no deficits in discriminating between suprathreshold concentrations of the enantiomers. These results fail to confirm predictions based on 2-deoxyglucose maps of bulbar activity that enantiomers of terpinen-4-ol should be more difficult to discriminate than those of carvone and that the ability to discriminate between enantiomers of an odorant are based on differences in patterns of bulbar activation revealed in such maps.

Key words: enantiomers; olfaction; olfactory bulb; lesions; odor discrimination; odor coding

---

Received Feb. 3, 2006; revised July 25, 2006; accepted Aug. 2, 2006.

Correspondence should be addressed to Dr. Burton Slotnick, University of South Florida, Department of Psychology, PCD 4118G, 4202 Fowler Avenue, Tampa, FL 33620. Email: slotnic{at}american.edu

This article has been cited by other articles:

				B. Slotnick Response Accuracy and Odor Sampling Time in Mice Trained to Discriminate between Enantiomers of Carvone and Those of Terpinen-4-ol Chem Senses, September 1, 2007; 32(7): 721 - 725. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				B. Slotnick Olfactory Performance of Rats after Selective Deafferentation of the Olfactory Bulb by 3-Methyl Indole Chem Senses, February 1, 2007; 32(2): 173 - 181. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home  |   Search  |   Archive  |   Subscribe  |   Contact  |   Help