Subclass-specific expression patterns of MET receptor tyrosine kinase during development in medial prefrontal and visual cortices.

Met encodes a receptor tyrosine kinase (MET) that is expressed during development and regulates cortical synapse maturation. Conditional deletion of Met in the nervous system during embryonic development leads to deficits in adult contextual fear learning, a medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC)-dependent cognitive task. MET also regulates the timing of critical period plasticity for ocular dominance in primary visual cortex (V1).

Inter- and intra-mouse variability in odor preferences revealed in an olfactory multiple-choice test.

Animals choose between sensory stimuli, a highly complex behavior which includes detection, discrimination, preference, and memory processes. Rodents are reported to display robust preferences for some odors, for instance, in the context of choosing among possible mates or food items. In contrast to the apparent robustness of responses toward these and other "ethologically relevant" odors, little is known about the robustness of behaviors toward odors which have no overt role in the rodent ecological niche, so-called "nonethologically relevant" odors.