In the rodent brain, the central processing of ecologically relevant chemical stimuli involves many different areas located at various levels within the neuraxis: the main and accessory olfactory bulbs, some nuclei in the amygdala, the hypothalamus, and brainstem. These areas allow the integration of the chemosensory stimuli with other sensory information and the selection of the appropriate neurohormonal and behavioral response. This review is a brief introduction to the processing of intraspecific chemosensory stimuli beyond the secondary projection, focusing on the activity of the relevant amygdala and hypothalamic nuclei, namely the medial amygdala and ventromedial hypothalamus. These areas are involved in the appropriate interpretation of chemosensory information and drive the selection of the proper response, which may be behavioral or hormonal and may affect the neural activity of other areas in the telencephalon and brainstem. Recent data support the notion that the processing of intraspecific chemical signals is not unique to one chemosensory system and some molecules may activate both the main and the accessory olfactory system. Moreover, both these systems have mixed projections and cooperate for the correct identification of the stimuli and selection of relevant responses.

中文翻译：

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啮齿动物大脑中种内化学信号的处理

在啮齿动物的大脑中，生态相关化学刺激的中央处理涉及位于神经轴内不同层次的许多不同区域：主要和副嗅球、杏仁核、下丘脑和脑干中的一些细胞核。这些区域允许将化学感觉刺激与其他感觉信息相结合，并选择适当的神经激素和行为反应。本综述简要介绍了超越二次投射的种内化学感应刺激的处理，重点关注相关杏仁核和下丘脑核的活动，即内侧杏仁核和腹内侧下丘脑。这些领域涉及化学感应信息的适当解释，并推动选择适当的反应，这可能是行为的或荷尔蒙的，可能会影响端脑和脑干其他区域的神经活动。最近的数据支持这样一种观点，即处理种内化学信号并不是一种化学感应系统所独有的，一些分子可能会同时激活主要和辅助嗅觉系统。此外，这两个系统都有混合的预测，并合作正确识别刺激和选择相关反应。