Establishment of pheromonal bonds and diet choice in young rats by odor pre-exposure

Rat pups reared by mothers maintained on a diet inhibiting maternal pheromone production do not exhibit a tendency to approach the pheromone excreted by normally maintained lactating females. The results of the present experiments indicate that following exposure in isolation to the smell of maternal pheromone, rat pups reared by dams not producing maternal pheromone exhibit a strong preference for the odor of maternal pheromone. Furthermore, pups reared by non-pheromone producing dams, and exposed in isolation to an arbitrary odor, exhibit both a preference for that odor and a preference for a diet with which that odor is associated. These results are discussed as demonstrating the importance of stimulus familiarity, rather than association learning, in the development of pheromonal bonds and socially transmitted diet preferences.