Context-dependent odor learning requires the anterior olfactory nucleus.
Year: 2020
Type: article
Abstract: Learning to associate the context in which a stimulus occurs is an important aspect of animal learning. We propose that the association of an olfactory stimulus with its multisensory context is mediated by projections from ventral hippocampus (vHC) networks to the anterior olfactory nucleus (AON). Using a contextually cued olfactory discrimination task, rats were trained to associate 2 olfactory stimuli with different responses depending on visuospatial context. Temporary lesions of the AON or vHC impaired performance on this task. In contrast, such lesions did not impair performance on a noncontextual olfactory discrimination task. Moreover, vHC lesions also impaired performance on an analogous contextually cued texture discrimination task, whereas AON lesions affected only olfactory contextual associations. We describe a distinct role for the AON in olfactory processing and conclude that early olfactory networks such as the olfactory bulb and AON function as multimodal integration networks rather than processing olfactory signals exclusively. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
Source: Behavioral Neuroscience
DOI: 10.1037/bne0000371
Language: English
Subfield: Sensory Systems
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Awards: G1299422122, Hippocampus, Retrosplenial Cortex and Contextual Learning and Memory, G2271635690, G2515541506, CRCNS US-German Research Proposal: Computational and experimental investigation of neural state changes in the olfactory system, Role of anterior olfactory nucleus for multi-sensory integration in the olfactory system
OpenAlex ID: W3021076413