Configural behavior response to a two component odor mixture

Abstract

Configural odors are mixtures of odorant molecules that are perceived as an odor distinct from the components. They provide an attractive target for investigations of odor perception in the olfactory bulb. We investigated the perception of octanal and citronellal in mice using a Go/No-Go behavioral paradigm, and show that mice trained on the mixture of the two odorants respond selectively to the mixture, but not to the components delivered separately.