Peter Brennan
Research
Humans take their sense of smell for granted, but it is the major sensory system for most animals. There has recently been a molecular genetics-led revolution in our understanding of this previously neglected sense. Now a major focus of research effort is devoted to understanding the processing of odour information and the role of learning in odour perception.
Electrophysiological recording of local field potential (LFP) oscillations and mitral cell action potentials from the olfactory bulb of anaethetised mice.My group’s research is focused on investigating the neural basis of learning in the olfactory bulb, at the first stage of olfactory processing of odour information. We are particularly interested in the neural basis of mate recognition in mice, which is one of the few mammalian examples in which learning at the behavioural level can be explained by changes at synapses between identified neurons in the brain. Previous work has shown that memory formation depends on the association of sensory input and the high levels of noradrenaline that occur in the olfactory bulb at mating. These are associated with dramatic changes in the functioning of the olfactory neural network that modulate transmission of the learned information. Current work is aimed at understanding the receptor mechanisms by which noradrenaline imprints the neural system and how changes in feedback inhibition shape synchronized oscillatory activity of the olfactory bulb mitral cells to gate sensory transmission to central brain areas.
Techniques
- Electrophysiological recording from anaesthetized and freely behaving mice.
- Intracranial drug infusion
- Behavioural analysis
- Immunohistochemistry
- Neural pathway tracing
Teaching
- 3rd year Physiology elements: sensational neuroscience; brains and behaviour.
- 2nd year Physiology lectures: olfaction; pheromones.
- 2nd year Veterinary Physiology lectures and practicals: Male reproduction; central nervous system; pheromones; avian physiology; physiology of reptiles and fish.
Collaborators
- Ashok Hedge
Wake Forest University, USA
- Matthieu Keller
Centre INRA de Tours, France
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Group Members
Selected Publications
- Brennan, P.A. (2009)
Outstanding issues surrounding vomeronasal mechanisms of pregnancy block and individual recognition in mice.
Behavioural Brain Research, 200, 287-249.
- Dong, D., Godwin, D.W., Brennan, P.A. and Hedge, A.N. (2009)
Protein kinase C alpha mediates signaling underlying an novel form of synaptic plasticity in the accessory olfactory bulb.
Neuroscience, 163, 811-824.
- Brennan, P.A. and Kendrick, K.M. (2006)
Mammalian social odours: attraction and individual recognition.
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 361, 2061-2078.
- Brennan, P.A. and Zufall, F. (2006)
Pheromonal communication in vertebrates.
Nature, 444, 308-315.
- Binns, K. E. and Brennan, P. A. (2005)
Changes in electrophysiological activity in the accessory olfactory bulb and medial amygdala associated with mate recognition in mice.
European Journal of Neuroscience, 21, 2529-2537.
- Trese Leinders-Zufall, Peter Brennan, Patricia Widmayer, Prashanth Chandramani S., Andrea Maul-Pavicic, Martina Jaeger, Xiao-Hong Li1, Heinz Breer, Frank Zufall, Thomas Boehm. (2004)
MHC class I peptides as chemosensory signals in the vomeronasal organ.
Science 306, 1033-1037.
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