Influence of pre-exposure and cognitive task on the perception of odor blending mixtures in humans

Perception of a blending odor mixture: an fMRI study in humans

Supported by grants from the Burgundy Regional council and EU-ERDF, European Dijon-Dresden Laboratory (LEA 549); Odors we perceive from our environment arise from the processing of mixtures of odorants. Some mixtures can lead to configural or elemental perception depending, in part, on experience. However, the neural bases of such influences are still unknown. In the present study, we examined the neurophysiological correlates of the configural and elemental processing of a binary odor mixture (AB). This AB mixture has previously been shown to blend into one percept, but also to produce a more or less configural perception depending on pre-exposure to either the mixture itself or to the sin…

The rabbit mammary pheromone has dissociable releasing and reinforcing effects

Pheromone-induced odour learning in newborn rabbits: action, development and adaptive function

Communication orale; International audience

Does the learning of elements prevent configural odor mixture perception in the newborn rabbit?

Does the learning of elements prevent configural odor mixture perception in the newborn rabbit?. 36. annual meeting - association for chemoreception sciences (Achems)

Impact of proportion on configural perception of odor mixtures in a newborn mammal

International audience; Configural perception of odor mixtures appears functional early in life. Recent results underline that after the learning of a binary mixture. (AB) that blends in humans, newborn rabbits respond both to the mixture and to its components. However, after the learning of. a single component they do not generalize to the mixture. This suggests that they perceive more in the mixture than the odor of each. constituent (Coureaud et al., Physiol. Behav. 2008). Here, we pursued the assessment of their configural perception of AB, with the. aim to determine whether specific component proportions of A and B elicit the perceptual emergence of an additional odor in AB. Starting. …

Impact of complexity on the processing of odour mixture in newborn rabbits

International audience

Corrélats cérébraux de la perception synthétique d'un mélange d'odorants chez le lapin nouveau-né

Résumé de poster; A chaque étape du développement, les organismes sont confrontés à de très nombreux odorants, présents le plus souvent en mélanges. Il leur faut simplifier ce volume d’informations pour se focaliser sur les plus pertinentes biologiquement. La perception synthétique des mélanges, c’est-à-dire l’attribution à un mélange d’une odeur distincte de celles de ses constituants, peut contribuer à cela. Ici, nous avons étudié cette perception au niveau cérébral en utilisant comme modèle le nouveau-né lapin. Nous savions en effet qu’après conditionnement à l’éthyl maltol (odorant A), les lapereaux ne répondent ni à l’isobutyrate d’éthyle (odorant B) ni au mélange AB (ratio 70/30) de c…

Many common odour cues and (at least) one pheromone shaping the behaviour of young rabbits: A brief survey

Activation cérébrale induite par la phéromone mammaire chez le lapin nouveau-né : analyse par immunocytochimie de la protéine Fos

Chez le lapin européen, Oryctolagus cuniculus, la femelle présente un comportement maternel étonnant pour un mammifère : peu après la naissance, elle quitte le nid et n’y retourne qu’une fois par 24h afin d’allaiter les nouveau-nés (initialement aveugles et sourds) durant seulement 5 min. Cela conduit à des échanges olfactifs très prononcés entre la mère et les jeunes. Ainsi, les nouveau-nés parviennent à s’orienter efficacement vers les tétines et à téter, en exprimant un comportement orocéphalique relativement stéréotypé (mouvements de recherche habituellement exprimés en parcourant la fourrure abdominale conclus par des actions de préhension orale). Ce comportement est notamment déclench…

Persistence in memory of configural odor mixture and components in the newborn rabbit

Persistence in memory of configural odor mixture and components in the newborn rabbit. 36. annual meeting - association for chemoreception sciences (AChemS XXXVI)

Le lait maternel: une source d'informations multiples pour le jeune mammifère

Slight variations in components ratio affect odor pleasantness of a blending mixture

International audience; Odors rely mainly on the perception of odorants mixtures but are commonly perceived as single undivided entities; nevertheless, the processes involved remain poorly explored. It has been reported that perceptual blending, based on configural olfactory processing, can lead odorant mixtures to give rise to an emergent odor quality not present in the components. Furthermore, very slight variations (just noticeable differences, jnd) in components concentrations were shown to be sufficient to modify the odor quality of a blending mixture. In the present study, we set out to examine whether jnd in components concentrations could also affect the odor pleasantness of a blend…

Response to all after conditioning to parts of the whole: a case of configural perception in the newborn rabbit

Coming from flowers, foods or conspecifics, odours are ubiquitous in our environment. Most of the time, perceived odours are the result of complex relationships between tens or more of odorants with our olfactory system. Two perceptual strategies are potentially engaged to perceive such chemically complex mixtures. The elemental mode allows the perception of each component's quality. Conversely, the configural mode supports the perception of a new odour in addition to, or in place of, the odours of the components (blending effect). In humans, it is usually considered that the prevalence of one mode on the other is due, in part, to mixture complexity. In the rabbit, previous results have sho…

Common odours and pheromones in the organisation of rabbit female-offspring relationships