RUI: The Ontogeny of Olfaction

哺乳动物的嗅觉通常比其他感官发育得更快，新生的动物通常在听觉或视觉完全发育之前就对气味产生反应。许多感官，包括嗅觉，都极度依赖早期的经验才能正常发育。目前尚不清楚嗅觉的化学感觉体验是如何在出生前就发生的，从而提供必要的早期体验。这个项目使用解剖学技术来检查发育过程中的嗅觉系统，以及当使用各种技术来阻止气味时，解剖变化是如何发生的。这种变化的机制可能包括感觉剥夺、神经活动剥夺或营养因子。这里的气味限制的新方法允许直接与鼻塞的结果进行比较，这是通常使用的技术。这些研究将对化学感觉和发育神经科学产生影响，本科生的强烈参与将对他们的职业生涯产生影响。

The sense of smell in mammals generally develops faster than the other senses, and newborn animals often show responses to odors before hearing or vision are fully developed. Many senses, including smell, are extremely dependent on early experience to develop properly. It is not clear how the chemosensory experience of smell occurs before birth to provide that necessary early experience. This project uses anatomical techniques to examine the olfactory system during development, and how anatomical changes occur when various techniques are used to block odors. Mechanisms for such changes could include sensory deprivation, deprivation of neural activity, or trophic factors. The novel approach here of odor restriction allows a direct comparison to results from nose occlusion, which is the technique usually used. These studies will have an impact on both chemosensory and developmental neuroscience, and the strong involvement of undergraduates will have an impact on their careers.