Évaluation neuro-éthologique du comportement alimentaire olfacto-guidé du lapin nouveau-né

Le document qui a justifié la délivrance du diplôme est en cours de traitement par la bibliothèque de l'établissement de soutenance.; L'olfaction est une sensorialité essentielle aux mammifères, dès les stades les plus précoces du développement. Ainsi, chez le lapin européen (Oryctolagus cuniculus), les nouveau-nés interagissent avec la mère et s'orientent vers ses tétines suite à la perception de signaux odorants appris périnatalement, ou d'au-moins un signal à l'action prédisposée, la phéromone mammaire (PM; molécule contenue dans le lait de lapine). La PM est très fortement réactogène au cours des 15 premiers jours postnatals, période d'alimentation lactée exclusive. Elle déclenche alors…

Pheromone-induced odor learning modifies Fos expression in the newborn rabbit brain.

Research report; International audience; Associative learning contributes crucially to adjust the behavior of neonates to the permanently changing environment. In the European rabbit, the mammary pheromone (MP) excreted in milk triggers sucking behavior in newborns, and additionally promotes very rapid learning of initially neutral odor cues. Such stimuli become then as active as the MP itself to elicit the orocephalic motor responses involved in suckling. In this context, the rabbit is an interesting model to address the question of brain circuits early engaged by learning and memory. Here, we evaluated the brain activation (olfactory bulb and central regions) induced in 4-day-old pups by …

Pheromonal odour learning and brain activation in the newborn rabbit.

Brain processing of the mammary pheromone in newborn rabbits.

International audience; Chemosignals strongly contribute to social interactions in mammals, including mother-young relationships. In the European rabbit, a volatile compound emitted by lactating females in milk, the 2-methylbut-2-enal, has been isolated. Carrying the properties of a pheromone, in particular the spontaneous ability to release critical sucking-related movements in newborns, it has been called the mammary pheromone (MP). Lesion of the vomeronasal organ and preliminary 2-deoxyglucose data suggested that the MP could be processed by the main olfactory system. However, the neuronal substrate that sustains the MP-induced response of neonates remained unknown. Here, we evaluated Fo…