Females may display dramatically different behavior depending on their state of ovulation. This is thought to occur through sex-specific hormones acting on behavioral centers in the brain. Whether incoming sensory activity also differs across the ovulation cycle to alter behavior has not been investigated. Here, we show that female mouse vomeronasal sensory neurons (VSNs) are temporarily and specifically rendered "blind" to a subset of male-emitted pheromone ligands during diestrus yet fully detect and respond to the same ligands during estrus. VSN silencing occurs through the action of the female sex-steroid progesterone. Not all VSNs are targeted for silencing; those detecting cat ligands remain continuously active irrespective of the estrous state. We identify the signaling components that account for the capacity of progesterone to target specific subsets of male-pheromone responsive neurons for inactivation. These findings indicate that internal physiology can selectively and directly modulate sensory input to produce state-specific behavior. PAPERCLIP.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 109. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 04 November 2020.
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#485,790
of 34,242,763 outputs
Outputs from Cell
#2,497
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#4,354
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Outputs of similar age from Cell
#31
of 177 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 34,242,763 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 98th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 19,532 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 63.1. This one has done well, scoring higher than 87% of its peers.
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We're also able to compare this research output to 177 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done well, scoring higher than 82% of its contemporaries.
