Modified behavioral and olfactory bulb responses to maternal odors in preweanling rats.

Rat pups acquire an attraction for maternal odors, which can vary with maternal diet. In the two experiments reported here, maternal diet was modified and both pup behavioral responses and pup olfactory bulb neural responses [( 14C]2-DG uptake) to maternal odors were examined. In experiment 1, pups were reared from birth to postnatal day 19 with either a dam fed normal rat chow or a dam fed a sucrose-based diet which suppressed her normal maternal odor. In experiment 2, pups were raised from birth to postnatal day 19 with either a dam fed the sucrose-based diet adulterated with peppermint, or the non-scented sucrose-based diet. Pups selectively expressed both a behavioral attraction and an enhanced olfactory bulb neural response to odors that they experienced in the nest.