Early Olfactory Determinants of Adult Responsiveness to Social Status Odors in Mus musculus

Male weanling mice (Mus musculus) were exposed from 25 to 34 days of age to pooled urine collected from either dominant or subordinate adults. When sexually mature, the 67-day-old adults underwent training designed to give the subject either a domininant or subordinate social status. Each adult was then tested for response to the odor of freshly collected urine of dominant and subordinate donors. Responsiveness of adult males to social status odors depended upon the status of the adult male urine he smelled during his early post-weaning development. This long term influence interacted with adult social status effects and the quality of the odor source.