The AOB subdivisions in rats respond differently to social stimulation

The animal's ability to recognise and differentiate between familiar and unfamiliar conspecifics, plays a crucial role in their social behaviour. To study the neural mechanisms underlying individual recognition, the expression patterns of the Immediate Early Genes c-Fos, Egr.1, and Arc were investigated immunocytochemically in the brains of socially stimulated rats. Juvenile stimulated rats showed a significantly increased expression of c-Fos, Egr.1, and Arc in the accessory olfactory bulb in comparison with the control and carvone stimulated groups. Also, in the anterior AOB, more cells were activated than in the posterior AOB.