Product Description
The Vomeronasal Organ is an olfactory structure in the nose, originally described in 1813 by the Danish court veterinarian Ludwig Jacobson. After some 150 years interest in it was reawakened, following the discovery of its key role in social and sexual responses. The organ serves to alert the emotional brain to the presence of specific semiochemicals, or signal molecules, which identify sex or status. Typically, such scents elicit responses at a non-conscious level – altering internal chemistry (hormones) in reaction to odours from the social environment (pheromones). The importance of vomerolfaction has recently been confirmed by findings on the genetic basis of smell.

This book surveys the biology of the “Organ of Jacobson” from toads to tamarins. It provides an analysis of the neural pathway which processes pheromonal information delivered by the ’second nose’ to the brain. Vomeronasal olfaction is examined in its evolutionary perspective, from molecular capture of scents to the consequent changes in reproductive activity.

The treatment integrates structural and functional aspects with the system’s development, and considers the implications of its unique genome. The student or researcher is lead up to the edge of contemporary thinking by an overview of vomerolfactory contributions to individual survival and to population dynamics. The issues raised by recent research are evaluated in relation to the properties of primary olfaction. Questions posed by the persistence of vomerolfaction as a distinct sense are explored for man and other higher primates.

Vomeronasal Chemoreception in Vertebrates: A Study of the Second Nose

Product Description
This digital document is a journal article from Hormones and Behavior, published by Elsevier in 2004. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Description:
Individual recognition is an important component of behaviors, such as mate choice and maternal bonding that are vital for reproductive success. This article highlights recent developments in our understanding of the chemosensory cues and the neural pathways involved in individuality discrimination in rodents. There appear to be several types of chemosensory signal of individuality that are influenced by the highly polymorphic families of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) proteins or major urinary proteins (MUPs). Both have the capability of binding small molecules and may influence the individual profile of these chemosignals in biological fluids such as urine, skin secretions, or saliva. Moreover, these proteins, or peptides associated with them, can be taken up into the vomeronasal organ (VNO) where they can potentially interact directly with the vomeronasal receptors. This is particularly interesting given the expression of major histocompatibility complex Ib proteins by the V2R class of vomeronasal receptor and the highly selective responses of accessory olfactory bulb (AOB) mitral cells to strain identity. These findings are consistent with the role of the vomeronasal system in mediating individual discrimination that allows mate recognition in the context of the pregnancy block effect. This is hypothesized to involve a selective increase in the inhibitory control of mitral cells in the accessory olfactory bulb at the first level of processing of the vomeronasal stimulus.

The nose knows who’s who: chemosensory individuality and mate recognition in mice