Influência dos odores de gato e de cobra no comportamento defensivo e expressão de fos do sistema hipotalâmico de defesa de camundongo

Abstract

Studies using neuronal tract-tracer in rat have shown that the anterior hypothalamic nucleus, dorsomedial division of the ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus and dorsal premammillary nucleus are highly connected. When the rat is exposed to predator or its odor these nuclei have shown a expression of Fos and their lesion reduces defensive behavior against predator. This set of nuclei was named the Hypothalamic Defense System. However, little is known about the response of this system to the odor of different predators or its role in mice. In this work, we exposed Swiss mice to two different predators odor (cat and snake) to verify the Fos expression in the Hypothalamic Defense System, as well as the defensive behaviors displayed. The analysis showed that the mice exposure to cat odor had an increased expression of Fos protein compared to control, while those exposed to snake odor showed no rise in Fos expression, which was corroborated by the behavioral data. Our results indicate that this distinct circuit in mice seems to act differentially to odorous stimuli of different predators, causing distinct behavioral responses of mice and that the odor of snake seems not to be perceived by Swiss mice as a threatening stimulus.