MECHANISMS OF OLFACTORY COMMUNICATION

特殊的气味腺和其他生物来源的气味是普遍存在的 动物王国里最大的动物 来自这些来源的嗅觉刺激引起 特定的行为和神经内分泌反应。 的各个部件 特定的行为序列可以取决于不同的个体 在单一的天然气味混合物中的化合物。 他们也可能依赖于 仅在可用感觉器官的一部分（即，主要或 辅助嗅觉系统）。 天然气味的腺体来源， 对它们的行为反应通常由内源性激素调节 在某些情况下，环境变量。 有几 关于嗅觉机制的广泛问题有待回答 哺乳动物的交流包括：（1）哪些化合物是 在天然气味中活跃 (2)天然香味是如何激活主要的 辅助嗅觉器官 (3)是否有特殊的激活模式， 行为上重要的气味，如信息素或（4）都是气味 不管它们的进口如何，都以同样的方式对待？ (5)一旦系统 是否有不同的编码机制， 为特定类别的气味选择解剖区域？ (6)是什么 主、副嗅觉系统的功能神经解剖学 尤其是那些与信息素感知有关的区域？ （七） 嗅觉和其他感觉信号的相对贡献是什么 在调节交配和其他自然行为中的作用 （8）如何 各种化学感受系统协调一致， 嗅觉引导的行为比如交配 仓鼠将是第一个 模型，因为它具有公认的天然气味来源， 其被部分地化学表征。 它有特殊的气味 标记这些气味的沉积行为， 他们的感知行为反应，所有这些都在 控制内源性激素。 化学，解剖，行为和 生理技术将在适当的水平上使用的主要 和辅助系统，以回答上述问题和相关问题 关于嗅觉交流

Specific scent glands and other biological sources of odors are widespread in the animal kingdom. Olfactory stimuli from these sources elicit specific behavioral and neuroendocrine responses. Individual components of a particular behavioral sequence may depend upon different individual compounds within a single melange of natural odors. They may also depend upon only a portion of the available sensory apparatus (i.e. the main or accessory olfactory system). The glandular sources of natural odors and the behavioral responses to them are often modulated by endogenous hormone levels and in some cases by environmental variables. There are several broad questions to be answered about the mechanisms of olfactory communication in mammals including: (1) Which chemical compounds are active in natural scents? (2) How do natural scents activate the main and accessory olfactory organs? (3) Are there special modes of activation for behaviorally important odors like pheromones or (4) Are all odorants treated in the same way regardless of their import? (5) Once the system has been activated, are there distinct coding mechanisms which operate in selected anatomical regions for particular classes of odors? (6) What is the functional neuroanatomy of the main and accessory olfactory systems especially those areas concerned with the perception of pheromones? (7) What are the relative contributions of olfactory and other sensory signals in modulating mating and other natural behaviors? and (8) How are the various chemosensory systems coordinated to eventuate in a complex olfactory guided behavior such as mating? The hamster will be the primary model because it has well recognized sources of natural scents, several of which are partially characterized chemically. It has specific scent marking behaviors for the deposition of these scents and easily measured behavioral responses to their perception, all of which are under the control of endogenous hormones. Chemical, anatomical, behavioral and physiological techniques will be utilized at appropriate levels of the main and accessory systems in order to answer the above and related questions about olfactory communication.