Temporary and selective anosmia in tiger salamanders (Ambystoma tigrinum) caused by chemical treatment of the olfactory epithelium.

Tiger salamanders (Ambystoma tigrinum) were trained to respond to two dissimilar odorants (i.e., cyclohexanone, dimethyl disulfide) but not to a third odorant (n-butanol). When the training criterion was met, the animals were anesthetized and given nasal lavages of saline or odorants in saline. Lavage with cyclohexanone decreased responding to cyclohexanone but not dimethyl disulfide, and vice-versa, in later behavioral tests. Likewise, ethyl acetoacetate lavage produced selective response decrements to cyclohexanone. Lavage with n-butanol had no effect on responding to presentations of either cyclohexanone or dimethyl disulfide. The effects of lavage increased with increasing odorant concentration. Thus, lavage with 0.05 M cyclohexanone or ethyl acetoacetate produced more persistent response decrements than lavage with 0.01 M concentrations of either odorant. Such results are consistent with several testable interpretations, including the possibility the response decrements could reflect the nature of odorant-receptor interactions.