Narcoleptic episodes in orexin-deficient mice are increased by both attractive and aversive odors.

Abstract

Orexin-deficient mice are an established animal model for narcolepsy. In human patients, narcoleptic events are mainly triggered by emotional events. However, the role of emotional stimuli in murine narcolepsy is not well understood. The present study investigated the effects of attractive and aversive odor stimuli, i.e., urine samples of coyote and female mice, on narcoleptic episodes (cataplexy, sleep attacks) in orexin-deficient mice. Here, we first demonstrate that exposure to both attractive and aversive odors significantly increase the number of narcoleptic episodes in orexin-deficient mice. This behavioral paradigm may be of high interest for studies focused on the question how emotions can trigger narcoleptic episodes.

• Authors: Marta Morawska, Mélanie Buchi, Markus Fendt
• Journal: Behavioural brain research (Behav Brain Res) Vol. 222 Issue 2 Pg. 397-400 (Sep 23 2011) ISSN: 1872-7549 [Electronic] Netherlands
• PMID: 21510981 (Publication Type: Journal Article)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Chemical References

• Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins
• Neuropeptides
• Orexins

Topics

• Animals
• Coyotes (urine)
• Disease Models, Animal
• Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins (deficiency, genetics, physiology)
• Male
• Mice
• Mice, Inbred C57BL (urine)
• Mice, Knockout
• Narcolepsy (chemically induced, physiopathology, psychology)
• Neuropeptides (deficiency, genetics, physiology)
• Odorants
• Olfactory Perception (physiology)
• Orexins