Simple behavioral assessment of mouse olfaction

This unit presents two basic protocols that offer rapid assessments of anosmia (the absence of a sense of smell) in mice. The buried food test is used to check for the ability to smell volatile odors. The olfactory habituation/dishabituation test is used to test whether the animal can detect and dif...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inCurrent protocols in neuroscience Vol. Chapter 8; p. Unit 8.24
Main Authors Yang, Mu, Crawley, Jacqueline N
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 01.07.2009
Subjects
Animals
Behavior, Animal - physiology
Habituation, Psychophysiologic
Mice
Odorants
Olfactory Pathways - metabolism
Reaction Time
Sensory Thresholds
Sex Characteristics
Smell - physiology
Stimulation, Chemical
Urinalysis - methods
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Summary:This unit presents two basic protocols that offer rapid assessments of anosmia (the absence of a sense of smell) in mice. The buried food test is used to check for the ability to smell volatile odors. The olfactory habituation/dishabituation test is used to test whether the animal can detect and differentiate different odors, including both nonsocial and social odors. A non-contact method of odor presentation, along with a general method for collecting urine samples, is given as an alternate protocol. The tests described in this unit only require simple equipment and can be adopted readily by most laboratories.
ISSN:1934-8576
DOI:10.1002/0471142301.ns0824s48