Differential memory persistence of odor mixture and components in newborn rabbits: competition between the whole and its parts

Interacting with the mother during the daily nursing, newborn rabbits experience her body odour cues. In particular, the mammary pheromone (MP) contained in rabbit milk triggers the typical behaviour which helps to localize and seize the nipples. It also promotes the very rapid appetitive learning of simple or complex stimuli (odorants or mixtures) through associative conditioning. We previously showed that 24h after MP-induced conditioning to odorants A (ethyl isobutyrate) or B (ethyl maltol), newborn rabbits perceive the AB mixture in a weak configural way, i.e. they perceive the odour of the AB configuration in addition to the odours of the elements. Moreover, after conditioning to the m…