An article by Jean-Philippe LACHAUX (EDUWELL CRNL) published in the journal Cerveau & Psycho on 12 February, 2021 section L'école des cerveaux.

Manon DIRHEIMER, Designated Veterinarian, was recruited by Inserm in 2017. She is in charge of several animal facilities, today those of the CRNL but also those of the SBRI, the P4 and the PBES. She works with many species: fish, mice, rats, rabbits, hamsters, guinea pigs, ferrets, cats and monkeys. And helps you on a daily basis. Discover the career path of this passionate woman!

An article of Maëllie Midroit* and Laura Chalençon* under the direction of Nathalie Mandairon, NEUROPOP CRNL, in Current Biology.

Why are we so attracted to some odorants? A study published in the journal Current Biology shows that pleasant odorants can act as rewards on our brains. This specific property of odorants seems to be due to a special connection between two brain regions, the olfactory bulb, which deals with odor pleasantness, and the olfactory tubercle, a key structure of the reward system. The activation of this network allows dopamine release, as do natural beneficial stimuli such as food or artificial stimuli such as drugs. These results obtained in mice have been confirmed in humans, showing that this process is conserved between species.

© Nathalie Mandairon & Marc Thevenet