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REPRODUCTIVE AND MATERNAL PERFORMANCE IN THE MOUSE FOLLOWING REMOVAL OF THE OLFACTORY BULBS

Removal of the olfactory bulbs in pregnant and non-pregnant mice has been shown to lead to a loss of maternal behaviour (Gandelman, Zarrow, Denenberg & Myers, 1971). Cannibalism of the young occurs in practically all cases, and in the few instances when cannibalism does not take place, the young invariably die from neglect. In mice, therefore, the olfactory system must be functional for maternal behaviour to occur. By contrast, data obtained from the rat indicate that no one sensory system is necessary for the exhibition of maternal behaviour (Beach & Jaynes, 1956).

In our original experiment (Gandelman, Zarrow, Denenberg & Myers, 1971), multiparous mice were bulbectomized on Day 12 of gestation, allowed to litter, and were killed immediately after the death of their young in order to verify the brain lesions.