Elsevier

Physiology & Behavior

Volume 56, Issue 2, August 1994, Pages 345-354
Physiology & Behavior

Article
Chronic recording of vomeronasal pump activation in awake behaving hamsters

https://doi.org/10.1016/0031-9384(94)90205-4Get rights and content

Abstract

The vomeronasal organs, the receptor organs of the accessory olfactory system, are important in chemical communication. Each organ contains receptor neurons sequestered inside a blind-ending tube with a narrow access duct. Large blood vessels surrounding the vomeronasal lumen act as a pump to draw substances into the lumen, under the control of vasomotor fibers in the nasopalatine nerve. Stimulation of the superior cervical sympathetic ganglion or nasopalatine nerve operates the pump (24) but its schedule of activation in awake behaving animals is unknown. Electrodes, implanted inside the vomeronasal organ capsule of male hamsters, recorded changes in electrical properties accompanying vomeronasal pump activation. Recorded signals were validated by anesthetizing the animals and recording frrm the same electrodes while driving the pump by nasopalatine nerve stimulation. Recordings in awake behaving animals show that the pump does not operate only in situations where the vomeronasal organ is known to be important. It appears to operate in response to any novel situation where the animal's attention is attracted. The signals recorded suggest that blood vessels are constricted repetitively by bursts of activity in the vasomotor sympathetic nerves each time the pump is triggered, while the underlying level of arousal is reflected in the ongoing sympathetic tone. The low selectivity in operation of the pump may require a greater degree of selectivity in the receptors than previously thought. The ready activation of the pump also suggests that the vomeronasal system may have other functions than the communication of reproductive events.

References (38)

  • L. Monti-Bloch et al.

    Effect of putative pheromones on the electrical activity of the human vomeronasal organ and olfactory epithelium

    J. Steroid Biochem. Mol. Biol.

    (1991)
  • L.J. Stensaas et al.

    Ultrastructure of the human vomeronasal organ

    J. Steroid Biochem. Mol. Biol.

    (1991)
  • S.S. Winans et al.

    Olfactory and vomeronasal deafferentation of male hamsters: Histological and behavioral analyses

    Brain Res.

    (1977)
  • F. Bojsen-Moller

    Topography of the nasal glands in rats and some other mammals

    Anatom. Rec.

    (1964)
  • M. Halpern

    The organization and function of the vomeronasal system

    Annu. Rev. Neurosci.

    (1987)
  • A. Johnson et al.

    Clinical and histological evidence for the presence of the vomeronasal (Jacobson's) organ in adult humans

    J. Otolaryngol.

    (1985)
  • K.O. Johnson et al.

    Neural mechanisms of tactile form and texture perception

    Annu. Rev. Neurosci.

    (1992)
  • M. Kawasaki et al.

    Delay-tuned combination-sensitive neurons in the auditory cortex of the vocalizing mustached bat

    J. Neurophysiol.

    (1988)
  • E.B. Keverne et al.

    Pheromones in mice: Reciprocal interaction netween the nose and brain

    Nature

    (1982)
  • Cited by (130)

    • In vivo stimulus presentation to the mouse vomeronasal system: Surgery, experiment, setup, and software

      2017, Journal of Neuroscience Methods
      Citation Excerpt :

      Thus, to be detected by the VNS, molecules must be soluble in the fluids of the nasal cavity. The exact circumstances which elicit pumping are largely unknown and likely differ from species to species (Halpern and Martinez-Marcos, 2003), but at least in hamsters and cats, suction involves sympathetic activation (Eccles, 1982; Meredith, 1994; Meredith and O'Connell, 1979). Importantly, the VNO is not spontaneously active under anesthesia.

    • Peripubertal exposure to male odors influences female puberty and adult expression of male-directed odor preference in mice

      2014, Hormones and Behavior
      Citation Excerpt :

      In Hayashi and Kimura's study (1978), female mice were exposed to a male behind a wire mesh partition, and thus they had access to airborne odors detected by the main olfactory epithelium only. In contrast, in the present study, female mice had physical contact with male-soiled bedding, which also allowed chemical cues to access to the vomeronasal organ (Luo et al., 2003; Meredith, 1994; Wysocki et al., 1980). Hence, induction of male-directed odor preference observed at PD45 in the present study may depend on chemical cues detected by the vomeronasal organ during peripubertal exposure to male odors.

    View all citing articles on Scopus
    View full text