DETECTION AND DISCRIMINATION OF PROPIONIC-ACID AFTER REMOVAL OF ITS 2-DG IDENTIFIED MAJOR FOCUS IN THE OLFACTORY-BULB - A PSYCHOPHYSICAL ANALYSIS

Prior 2-deoxyglucose and c-fos studies have demonstrated increased met abolic activity in a rostral dorsomedial area of the olfactory bulb in response to the vapor of propionic acid. We used psychophysical tests to assess the effect of removing this area of the bulb on odor sensit ivity and discrimination. Normal rats, those with lesions of the rostr al dorsomedial bulb or with control lesions of the lateral olfactory b ulb were tested for propionic acid absolute detection and intensity di fference thresholds and ability to discriminate propionic acid from ot her odors. There were no differences among groups for absolute or inte nsity difference threshold or on simple 2-odor discrimination tests bu t both groups with bulbar lesions made more errors than controls on a relatively difficult odor-mixture task. The results demonstrate that r emoval of an area of the bulb identified as responsive to propionic ac id is essentially without effect on sensitivity to that odor or abilit y to discriminate it from other odors. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.