[Modifications of the olfactory bulb electrocorticogram and trans-glomerular evoked potentials in staggerer mutant...

Electrophysiological observations have been made on normal C57-BL/6J and staggerer mutant mice. Morphological observations have given evidence it existed various neurones modifications which affected the olfactory bulb in the mutant mice. Olfactory bulb electrocorticograms (ECoG) of mutant have shown rare bursts of potentials of longer time duration than in normal mice. These bursts were less affected by odor stimulations (ammonia and urine of opposite sexes) than in the normal mice and never varied under urine odor influence in female mutant. Evoked potential induced by the odors had long latency and long duration (up to 50 ms vs 30 ms). In a large amount of them, the late phases and the late oscillatory potentials, which generally followed the evoked potential, were absent. All these results improved the idea that staggerer mutation, which mainly affected the N-CAM gene, not only induced cerebellar diseases, but also functionally affects the olfactory bulb.