Olfactory discrimination ability and brain expression of c-fos, Gir and Glut1 mRNA are altered in n-3 fatty acid-depleted rats

Abstract The long-chain polyunsaturated n  − 3 fatty acids ( n  − 3 PUFA), particularly docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), are abundantly present in the central nervous system and play an important role in cognitive functions such as learning and memory. We, therefore, investigated the effects of n  − 3 PUFA-depletion in rats (F2 generation) on the learning of an olfactory discrimination task, progressively acquired within a four-arm maze, and on the mRNA expression of some candidate genes, i.e., c-fos, Gir and glucose transporter (Glut1), which could reflect the level of cerebral activity. We observed that DHA contents were dramatically decreased in the olfactory bulb, the piriform cortex and the…

Role of the basolateral amygdala in retrieval of conditioned flavors in the awake rat.

International audience; Learned association between odor, taste and further post-ingestive consequence is known as flavor nutrient conditioned preference. Amygdala is supposed to be one of the areas involved in these associations. In the present study, one flavor was associated with a 16% glucose (CS+) whereas another flavor was paired with less reinforcing 4% glucose (CS-). We showed that CS+ presentation after conditioning increased Fos expression in the basolateral nucleus of amygdala (BLA). Furthermore, we performed electrophysiological recordings in the BLA in free moving rats. After preference acquisition, rats were exposed to either the CS+ or the CS-. The proportion of neurons showi…

Expression cérébrale de la protéine Fos au cours de l'acquisition d'une tâche de discrimination olfactive : étude par immunohistochimie chez le rat.

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Cue valence representation studied by Fos immunocytochemistry after acquisition of a discrimination learning task.

The piriform cortex (PCx) and related structures such as hippocampus and frontal cortex could play an important role in olfactory memory. We investigated their involvement in learning the biological value of an odor cue, i.e. predicting reward or non-reward in a two-odor discrimination task. Rats were sacrificed after stimulation by either rewarded or non-rewarded odor and Fos immunocytochemistry was performed. The different experimental groups of rats did not show strongly differentiated Fos expression pattern in either the PCx or the hippocampus. A few differences were noted in frontal areas. In the ventro-lateral orbital cortex, rats, ramdomly rewarded during the conditionning had a high…

Transient Receptor Potential Canonical 3 (TRPC3) Channels Are Required for Hypothalamic Glucose Detection and Energy Homeostasis

Fil: Chrétien, Chloé. University of Bourgogne Franche-Comté. Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique. Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l’Alimentation; France Fil: Fenech, Claire. University of Bourgogne Franche-Comté. Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique. Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l’Alimentation; France Fil: Liénard, Fabienne. University of Bourgogne Franche-Comté. Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique. Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l’Alimentation; France Fil: Grall, Sylvie. University of Bourgogne Franche-Comté. Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique. Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l’Alimentation; France Fil: Chevalier, Charlène. University of …

Lack of Hypothalamus Polysialylation Inducibility Correlates With Maladaptive Eating Behaviors and Predisposition to Obesity

This original research article (6 p.) is part of the research topic . Specialty section: This article was submitted to Neuroenergetics, Nutrition and Brain Health, a section of the journal Frontiers in Nutrition.; International audience; High variability exists in individual susceptibility to develop overweight in an obesogenic environment and the biological underpinnings of this heterogeneity are poorly understood. In this brief report, we show in mice that the vulnerability to diet-induced obesity is associated with low level of polysialic acid-neural cell adhesion molecule (PSA-NCAM), a factor of neural plasticity, in the hypothalamus. As we previously shown that reduction of hypothalami…