Elsevier

Experimental Neurology

Volume 91, Issue 2, February 1986, Pages 392-398
Experimental Neurology

Olfactory asymmetry in the rat brain

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Abstract

Based on cytoarchitecture, myeloarchitecture, and physiological observations in the literature, two concentric strata are identified in the olfactory bulb of the albino rat. Stimulated by a report of physiologic asymmetry between the left and right bulb of the rodent brain, we parcelled the inner and outer strata of the olfactory bulbs of 16 albino rats and measured the volume of these olfactory subdivisions. The volume of the entire olfactory bulb was found to be significantly greater in the right hemisphere. This volume asymmetry was the result of a significantly larger right outer stratum. No significant asymmetry was demonstrated for the inner stratum. These findings are discussed in the light of some physiologic and anatomic properties of the olfactory bulb.

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    This structural difference between the left and right OS bears similarities to work in experimental animals where laterality has been reported for olfactory bulb volume. This has been shown to be larger on the right compared to the left side [10]. In contrast, in humans there is little support for such lateralized differences in structures involved in the processing of olfactory information.

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The authors thank Dr. Thomas L. Kemper for providing the rat material. This work was supported by a grant from the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes, West Germany, and by NIH grants 14018 and 07211, grants from the Orton Dyslexia Society, the Wm. Underwood Co., the Powder River Company, and the Essel Foundation.

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