Department
of Psychology
Indiana
University,
Bloomington
BEHAVIOR SYSTEMS
AND
LEARNING LAB (BSL)
Welcome
RESEARCH PROJECTS
Rats and Predatory Odors
Beginning in the 1970s, researchers have been studying the curious behavior of prey species when they are presented to predatory odors either in the field or in the laboratory environment. What also makes predatory odors unique is that they tend to elicit defensive behaviors only in prey that have had parallel evolutionary histories. These odors are also able to elicit behaviors in laboratory animals which have not cohabitated with predators for many generations which suggest that this innate behavior may be genetically conserved.
The predator-prey relationship that has been studied the most is the relationship between rodents and cats, specifically rats and domestic felines. Behavioral responses include decreases in general locomotor activity and exploration as well as non-defensive behaviors such as grooming and reproduction. TMT, a synthetic compound derived from fox feces, does not show the same conditioned fear response after an odor is removed; even compounds derived from cat urine and feces do not produce contextual conditioning or anxiogenic effects that cat collars, cat fur, or rubbing a cloth over the fur seems to do.
Our lab has been in cooperation with the Institute for Pheromone Research
(at IU) as well as the Psychopharmocology Lab at the University of Sydney
and we have been trying to isolate the compound(s) involved in eliciting
a defensive response. We have also tried to tackle the question as to
why cats release this fear inducing compounds and "cat odour's"
possible role as a kairomone. Much of this work involves various elements
of neurophisology, biology, ecology, biochemistry, anatomy, and of course,
animal behavior.
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