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Olfactory development in gerbil pups
Author(s) -
CornwellJones Catherine A.,
Azar Leila M.
Publication year - 1982
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/dev.420150206
Subject(s) - gerbil , odor , nest (protein structural motif) , olfactory cues , olfaction , preference , psychology , audiology , developmental psychology , biology , neuroscience , medicine , microeconomics , biochemistry , ischemia , psychiatry , economics
In a 2‐choice situation, Mongolian gerbil pups show a preference for home‐cage bedding odor that appears during the 2nd postnatal week and is consistently high between Days 8 and 14. Pups show responses to certain nonanimal odors as early as Day 4, indicating that the motor capacity to orient to odors precedes the emergence of nest odor preference. Increases in pups' nest odor preference appear to parallel increases in the frequency of maternal nest‐building, an activity which can eject pups from the nest. This coincidence suggests that olfaction helps displaced pups to return to their nests.