SNIFFING PATTERNS OF RATS DURING LEARNING AND PERFORMANCE OF ODOR DISCRIMINATION TASKS.

摘要: Odor sampling (sniffing) is a dynamic behavior. Most earlier studies have focused on sniffing strictly in the context of odor discrimination. In this study, we monitored sniffing behavior continuously in rats learning and performing odor discriminations under two different behavioral paradigms and asked how sniffing relates to odor discrimination as well as to other behavioral parameters. In both paradigms, rats were habituated to head restraint and trained to perform a lick/no-lick two odor discrimination. Sniffing, measured as intranasal pressure transients, was monitored during task acquisition and performance. In paradigm 1, the test odorant was presented after a random intertrial interval, with no other associated cues, while in paradigm 2 the rat was allowed to initiate each trial by pressing a bar after a tone was presented. In paradigm 1, rats sniffed at a fairly consistent slow frequency of 1–2 Hz. Surprisingly, sniff …