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Odor preferences in neonatal and weanling rats
Author(s) -
Amiri Leila,
Dark Tyra,
Noce Kimberly M.,
Kirstein Cheryl L.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
developmental psychobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.055
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1098-2302
pISSN - 0012-1630
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1098-2302(199809)33:2<157::aid-dev6>3.0.co;2-i
Subject(s) - odor , psychology , weanling , orange (colour) , olfaction , developmental psychology , communication , zoology , food science , biology , endocrinology , neuroscience
In order to establish odors which can be used in appetitive and aversive conditioning paradigms, naive rat pups, postnatal day 7 (i.e., PND 7) and weanlings (PND 25), were placed in a rectangular open field with an odorant at one or both ends. Time spent over each odor was measured for 3 min. At both ages subjects avoided peppermint, orange, and lemon odors in favor of fresh home‐cage bedding. Comparing any of these three odorants with each other resulted in no significant differences in preferences. In experiments using banana odorant, equal time was spent between banana and no odorant. However, in a two‐odorant choice between banana and peppermint, weanlings preferred banana whereas pups showed no preference. The results of this study indicate that in an appetitive learning paradigm, peppermint, orange, or lemon odors may be used, while in aversive learning paradigms banana odor may be more appropriate for weanlings. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 33: 157–162, 1998