Department of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, Laval University, Québec City G1J 2G3, Canada.
Curr Opin Neurobiol. 2012 Apr;22(2):243-50. doi: 10.1016/j.conb.2011.11.013. Epub 2011 Dec 15.
Sniffing and whisking are two rhythmic orofacial motor activities that enable rodents to localize and track objects in their environment. They have related temporal dynamics, possibly as a result of both shared musculature and shared sensory tasks. Sniffing and whisking also constitute the overt expression of an animal's anticipation of a reward. Yet, the neuronal mechanisms that underlie the control of these behaviors have not been established. Here, we review the similarities between sniffing and whisking and suggest that such similarities indicate a mechanistic link between these two rhythmic exploratory behaviors.
嗅探和扫动是两种节律性的口面部运动活动,使啮齿动物能够定位和跟踪其环境中的物体。它们具有相关的时间动态,可能是由于两者共享的肌肉和共同的感觉任务。嗅探和扫动也是动物对奖励的预期的明显表达。然而,控制这些行为的神经机制尚未确定。在这里,我们回顾了嗅探和扫动之间的相似性,并提出这些相似性表明这两种节律性探索行为之间存在机制联系。