The Habituation/Cross-Habituation Test Revisited: Guidance from Sniffing and Video Tracking

The habituation/cross-habituation test (HaXha) is a spontaneous odor discrimination task that has been used for many decades to evaluate olfactory function in animals. Animals are presented repeatedly with the same odorant after which a new odorant is introduced. The time the animal explores the odo...

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Main Authors: G. Coronas-Samano, A. V. Ivanova, J. V. Verhagen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Hindawi Limited 2016-01-01
Series:Neural Plasticity
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/9131284
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spelling doaj-053a146b59a7486cbde9a7d52a0c846e2020-11-24T21:34:25ZengHindawi LimitedNeural Plasticity2090-59041687-54432016-01-01201610.1155/2016/91312849131284The Habituation/Cross-Habituation Test Revisited: Guidance from Sniffing and Video TrackingG. Coronas-Samano0A. V. Ivanova1J. V. Verhagen2The John B. Pierce Laboratory, 209 Congress Avenue, New Haven, CT 06519, USADepartment of Surgery, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520, USAThe John B. Pierce Laboratory, 209 Congress Avenue, New Haven, CT 06519, USAThe habituation/cross-habituation test (HaXha) is a spontaneous odor discrimination task that has been used for many decades to evaluate olfactory function in animals. Animals are presented repeatedly with the same odorant after which a new odorant is introduced. The time the animal explores the odor object is measured. An animal is considered to cross-habituate during the novel stimulus trial when the exploration time is higher than the prior trial and indicates the degree of olfactory patency. On the other hand, habituation across the repeated trials involves decreased exploration time and is related to memory patency, especially at long intervals. Classically exploration is timed using a stopwatch when the animal is within 2 cm of the object and aimed toward it. These criteria are intuitive, but it is unclear how they relate to olfactory exploration, that is, sniffing. We used video tracking combined with plethysmography to improve accuracy, avoid observer bias, and propose more robust criteria for exploratory scoring when sniff measures are not available. We also demonstrate that sniff rate combined with proximity is the most direct measure of odorant exploration and provide a robust and sensitive criterion.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/9131284
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author G. Coronas-Samano
A. V. Ivanova
J. V. Verhagen
spellingShingle G. Coronas-Samano
A. V. Ivanova
J. V. Verhagen
The Habituation/Cross-Habituation Test Revisited: Guidance from Sniffing and Video Tracking
Neural Plasticity
author_facet G. Coronas-Samano
A. V. Ivanova
J. V. Verhagen
author_sort G. Coronas-Samano
title The Habituation/Cross-Habituation Test Revisited: Guidance from Sniffing and Video Tracking
title_short The Habituation/Cross-Habituation Test Revisited: Guidance from Sniffing and Video Tracking
title_full The Habituation/Cross-Habituation Test Revisited: Guidance from Sniffing and Video Tracking
title_fullStr The Habituation/Cross-Habituation Test Revisited: Guidance from Sniffing and Video Tracking
title_full_unstemmed The Habituation/Cross-Habituation Test Revisited: Guidance from Sniffing and Video Tracking
title_sort habituation/cross-habituation test revisited: guidance from sniffing and video tracking
publisher Hindawi Limited
series Neural Plasticity
issn 2090-5904
1687-5443
publishDate 2016-01-01
description The habituation/cross-habituation test (HaXha) is a spontaneous odor discrimination task that has been used for many decades to evaluate olfactory function in animals. Animals are presented repeatedly with the same odorant after which a new odorant is introduced. The time the animal explores the odor object is measured. An animal is considered to cross-habituate during the novel stimulus trial when the exploration time is higher than the prior trial and indicates the degree of olfactory patency. On the other hand, habituation across the repeated trials involves decreased exploration time and is related to memory patency, especially at long intervals. Classically exploration is timed using a stopwatch when the animal is within 2 cm of the object and aimed toward it. These criteria are intuitive, but it is unclear how they relate to olfactory exploration, that is, sniffing. We used video tracking combined with plethysmography to improve accuracy, avoid observer bias, and propose more robust criteria for exploratory scoring when sniff measures are not available. We also demonstrate that sniff rate combined with proximity is the most direct measure of odorant exploration and provide a robust and sensitive criterion.
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/9131284
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