Abstract
Semiochemicals are a class of small organic molecules that mediate a wide variety of inherent behaviors across multiple phylogenies. While semiochemicals and their attendant behavioral responses have been extensively catalogued and characterized, little work has been done to explore the qualitative differences between semiochemicals and other odiferous compounds. As such, whether or not semiochemicals are subject to the same rules of associative learning as other odor cues remains an open question. Specifically, can an animal’s reaction to a semiochemical be altered through training? Would such training then disrupt its stereotypical function as a semiochemical? We asked these questions regarding carbon disulfide (CS2), a semiochemical that mediates the acquisition of a food preference in the rat. We found that rats did not acquire aversions to the smell of carbon disulfide in a paradigm that supported aversion learning to a control odor, and, further, that the use of CS2 in this conditioning paradigm did not disrupt subsequent social transmission of a food preference. Thus it appears that CS2, in resisting aversive conditioning, belongs to a qualitatively distinct category of odor compounds.