Gestational stress prevents motherhood-induced improvement of olfactory memory

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Gestational stress prevents motherhood-induced improvement of olfactory memory Laure Belnoue1*, Nora Djoher Abrous1 and Muriel Koehl1 1 Neurocentre Magendie Inserm U862, France Among mammals ranging from rodents through primates, olfactory cues have been shown to play a ubiquitous role in social recognition. In particular there is an extensive contribution of olfaction in many aspects of maternal care to ensure the coordination of mother-infant interactions. The ability for new mothers to rapidly recognize their own offspring has been proposed as an important component to establish an adaptive maternal behavior, which is disturbed in mothers that have been submitted to gestational stress. These data indicate that motherhood may be associated to enhanced olfactory performances, and that this effect may be abolished by gestational stress.To test this hypothesis, we have analyzed the impact of motherhood under normal conditions or after gestational stress on olfactory memory that we tested two weeks after parturition in: Virgin female (V), mother (M) and Stressed Mother (MS) mice. For this last group, stress was performed during the last week of gestation. The olfactory memory test consisted of two 5 min odor presentations of the same odor with a 6h interval. The time that the animals spent sniffing the odor was recorded. A significant decrease in investigation time during the second presentation indicates that mice were able to recognize an odor presented previously. We found that virgin females did not recognize the odor as familiar after a 6h delay, while mothers did spend less time sniffing it upon the 2nd presentation, indicating an improved olfactory memory. Stressed mothers presented performances similar to those of virgins.Altogether our results indicate that motherhood improves olfactory memory and that this enhancement is abolished by a gestational stress. Since olfactory memories may be formed, in part, by neural circuitry involving neurogenesis in the olfactory bulb, the next step will be to determine the impact of normal and disrupted motherhood on this phenomenon. Conference: 41st European Brain and Behaviour Society Meeting, Rhodes Island, Greece, 13 Sep - 18 Sep, 2009. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Poster presentations Citation: Belnoue L, Abrous N and Koehl M (2009). Gestational stress prevents motherhood-induced improvement of olfactory memory. Conference Abstract: 41st European Brain and Behaviour Society Meeting. doi: 10.3389/conf.neuro.08.2009.09.090 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 08 Jun 2009; Published Online: 08 Jun 2009. * Correspondence: Laure Belnoue, Neurocentre Magendie Inserm U862, Bordeaux, France, laure.belnoue@inserm.fr Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Laure Belnoue Nora Djoher Abrous Muriel Koehl Google Laure Belnoue Nora Djoher Abrous Muriel Koehl Google Scholar Laure Belnoue Nora Djoher Abrous Muriel Koehl PubMed Laure Belnoue Nora Djoher Abrous Muriel Koehl Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.