Mechanisms of Chemical Communication

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The understanding of processes involved in species, sex, individual and kin recognition are of fundamental importance to virtually all multicellular animals. Among many mammals, chemosensory signals provide one of the most important channels of communication for such recognition. Dr. Johnston will examine the ways in which animals recognize others of their species by chemical cues and investigate the neural mechanisms underlying such recognition. His research involves the development of innovative habituation paradigms to measure individual discrimination and individual recognition. He will utilize the behavioral information to determine the roles that the two main olfactory pathways, the main olfactory system and the vomeronasal system, play in mediating the recognition processes. Not only will this multidisciplinary approach provide information towards our understanding of animal communication systems but will contribute to our understanding of (1) recognition mechanisms in general, (2) the functions of the sense of olfaction, (3) the organization and functions of the neural pathways of the olfactory system, and (4) the processing of olfactory information in different brain regions. The understanding and treatment of clinical disorders associated with taste and olfactory dysfunctions in humans can only benefit from advances in basic knowledge of animal olfaction and chemical communication research.