Cortical and medial amygdala are both involved in the formation of olfactory offspring memory in sheep.
Eur J Neurosci. 2004-12-01; 20(12): 3433-3441
DOI: 10.1111/j.1460-9568.2004.03812.x
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1. Eur J Neurosci. 2004 Dec;20(12):3433-41.
Cortical and medial amygdala are both involved in the formation of olfactory
offspring memory in sheep.
Keller M(1), Perrin G, Meurisse M, Ferreira G, Lévy F.
Author information:
(1)Equipe Comportement, Station de Physiologie de la Reproduction et des
Comportements, UMR 6175 INRA/CNRS/Université de Tours/Haras Nationaux, Nouzilly,
France.
Ewes form a selective olfactory memory for their lambs after 2 h of mother-young
interaction following parturition. Once this recognition is established, ewes
will subsequently reject any strange lamb approaching the udder (i.e. maternal
selectivity). The present study tested the functional contribution of different
amygdala nuclei to lamb olfactory memory formation. Using the anaesthetic
lidocaine, cortical, medial or basolateral nuclei of the amygdala were
transiently inactivated during lamb odour memory formation. Reversible
inactivation of either cortical or medial amygdala during the first 8 h
postpartum impaired lamb olfactory recognition, whereas inactivation of the
basolateral nucleus or infusion of artificial cerebrospinal fluid did not.
Control experiments indicate that inactivation of the cortical and medial nuclei
of the amygdala specifically disrupt memory formation rather than olfactory
perception or memory retrieval. These findings show that both nuclei of the
amygdala are required for the formation of a lamb olfactory memory and suggest
functional interaction between these two nuclei.
DOI: 10.1111/j.1460-9568.2004.03812.x
PMID: 15610176 [Indexed for MEDLINE]