Sensory Detection by the Vomeronasal Organ Modulates Experience-Dependent Social Behaviors in Female Mice

Abstract

In mice, social behaviors are largely controlled by the olfactory system. Pheromone detection induces naïve virgin females to retrieve isolated pups to the nest and to be sexually receptive to males, but social experience increases the performance of both types of innate behaviors. Whether animals are intrinsically sensitive to the smell of conspecifics, or the detection of olfactory cues modulates experience for the display of social responses is currently unclear. Here, we employed mice with an olfactory-specific deletion of the G protein Gαi2, which partially eliminates sensory function in the vomeronasal organ (VNO), to show that social behavior in female mice results from interactions between intrinsic mechanisms in the vomeronasal system and experience-dependent plasticity. In pup- and sexually-naïve females, Gαi2 deletion elicited a reduction in pup retrieval behavior, but not in sexual receptivity. By contrast, experienced animals showed normal maternal behavior, but the experience-dependent increase in sexual receptivity was incomplete. Further, lower receptivity was accompanied by reduced neuronal activity in the anterior accessory olfactory bulb and the rostral periventricular area of the third ventricle. Therefore, neural mechanisms utilize intrinsic sensitivity in the mouse vomeronasal system and enable plasticity to display consistent social behavior.

Deletion of neural estrogen receptor alpha induces sex differential effects on reproductive behavior in mice

“…Sexually experienced males and females were tested for odor preference in a Y-maze apparatus as previously described 10 , 14 , 41 . Female mice were allowed to become familiar with the maze for 10 min over two consecutive days.…”

Notch signaling determines cell-fate specification of the two main types of vomeronasal neurons of rodents

“…The vomeronasal organ (VNO) is a specialized chemosensory organ that, in many vertebrate species, is located at the base of the nasal cavity ( Levy et al, 2020 ). The VNO is responsible for the detection of semiochemicals, molecules that can trigger stereotypical mating/sex behaviors, parental behaviors and predator avoidance ( Stowers et al, 2002 ; He et al, 2008 ; Papes et al, 2010 ; Flanagan et al, 2011 ; Trouillet et al, 2021 ). Most of the vertebrates with a functional VNO have a uniform vomeronasal (VN) system with vomeronasal sensory neurons (VSNs) expressing receptors of the V1R family ( Grus et al, 2005 ).…”

Mixed selectivity coding of sensory and motor social signals in the thalamus of a weakly electric fish

“…49 Recent studies in rodents have also pointed to mixed selectivity cortical coding of the signals exchanged during courtship, mating, and aggressive social interactions. [50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58] Two subcortical regions implicated in these processes are the preoptic area (PO), associated with courtship and mating, 55,59,60 and the ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH), which is associated with aggression. [60][61][62][63] Multiple cortical areas have descending projections to both PO and VMH, [64][65][66] thereby permitting learned contextual cues to guide social behavior.…”