Lack of spatial segregation in the representation of pheromones and kairomones in the mouse medial amygdala

Autor(es)

Carvalho, Vinicius M. A. ^{[1, 2]} ; Nakahara, Thiago S. ^{[1, 2]} ; Cardozo, Leonardo M. ^{[1, 2]} ; Souza, Mateus A. A. ^{[1, 2]} ; Camargo, Antonio P. ^{[1, 3]} ; Trintinalia, Guilherme Z. ^{[1, 2]} ; Ferraz, Eliana ^[4] ; Papes, Fabio ^[1]

Afiliação do(s) autor(es)

^[1] Univ Estadual Campinas, Inst Biol, Dept Genet & Evolut, BR-13083862 Campinas, SP - Brazil

^[2] Univ Estadual Campinas, Inst Biol, Grad Program Genet & Mol Biol, BR-13083862 Campinas, SP - Brazil

^[3] Univ Estadual Campinas, Inst Biol, Undergrad Program Biol Sci, BR-13083862 Campinas, SP - Brazil

^[4] Campinas Municipal Zoo, Campinas, SP - Brazil

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: FRONTIERS IN NEUROSCIENCE; v. 9, AUG 11 2015.
• Citações Web of Science: 5

Resumo

The nervous system is organized to detect, internally represent and process sensory information to generate appropriate behaviors. Despite the crucial importance of odors that elicit instinctive behaviors, such as pheromones and kairomones, their neural representation remains little characterized in the mammalian brain. Here we used expression of the immediate early gene product c-Fos as a marker of neuronal activity to find that a wide range of pheromones and kairomones produces activation in the medial nucleus of the amygdala, a brain area anatomically connected with the olfactory sensory organs. We see that activity in this nucleus depends on vomeronasal organ input, and that distinct vomeronasal stimuli activate a dispersed ensemble of cells, without any apparent spatial segregation. This activity pattern does not reflect the chemical category of the stimuli, their valence or the induced behaviors. These findings will help build a complete understanding of how odor information is processed in the brain to generate instinctive behaviors. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 09/00473-0 - Biologia molecular do sistema olfativo em mamíferos: estudo da detecção de odores e sua representação neural no cérebro
• Beneficiário: Fabio Papes
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Jovens Pesquisadores