scholarly journals Non-synaptic interactions between olfactory receptor neurons, a possible key feature of odor processing in insects

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mario Pannunzi ◽  
Thomas Nowotny
Keyword(s):  
Lateral Inhibition ◽  
Olfactory Receptor ◽  
Olfactory System ◽  
Antennal Lobe ◽  
Olfactory Receptor Neurons ◽  
Inhibition Mechanism ◽  
Alternative Mechanism ◽  
Odor Processing ◽  
Synaptic Interactions ◽  
Receptor Neurons

AbstractWhen flies explore their environment, they encounter odors in complex, highly intermittent plumes. To navigate a plume and, for example, find food, flies must solve several tasks, including reliably identifying mixtures of odorants and discriminating odorant mixtures emanating from a single source from odorants emitted from separate sources and mixing in the air. Lateral inhibition in the antennal lobe is commonly understood to help solving these two tasks. With a computational model of the Drosophila olfactory system, we analyze the utility of an alternative mechanism for solving them: Non-synaptic (“ephaptic”) interactions (NSIs) between olfactory receptor neurons that are stereotypically co-housed in the same sensilla. For both tasks, NSIs improve the insect olfactory system and outperform the standard lateral inhibition mechanism in the antennal lobe. These results shed light, from an evolutionary perspective, on the role of NSIs, which are normally avoided between neurons, for instance by myelination.

scholarly journals Non-synaptic interactions between olfactory receptor neurons, a possible key feature of odor processing in flies

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (12) ◽  
pp. e1009583
Author(s):  
Mario Pannunzi ◽  
Thomas Nowotny
Keyword(s):  
Lateral Inhibition ◽  
Olfactory Receptor ◽  
Antennal Lobe ◽  
Dynamic Range ◽  
Olfactory Receptor Neurons ◽  
Alternative Mechanism ◽  
Mixture Ratio ◽  
Odor Processing ◽  
Functional Perspective ◽  
Receptor Neurons

When flies explore their environment, they encounter odors in complex, highly intermittent plumes. To navigate a plume and, for example, find food, they must solve several challenges, including reliably identifying mixtures of odorants and their intensities, and discriminating odorant mixtures emanating from a single source from odorants emitted from separate sources and just mixing in the air. Lateral inhibition in the antennal lobe is commonly understood to help solving these challenges. With a computational model of the Drosophila olfactory system, we analyze the utility of an alternative mechanism for solving them: Non-synaptic (“ephaptic”) interactions (NSIs) between olfactory receptor neurons that are stereotypically co-housed in the same sensilla. We find that NSIs improve mixture ratio detection and plume structure sensing and do so more efficiently than the traditionally considered mechanism of lateral inhibition in the antennal lobe. The best performance is achieved when both mechanisms work in synergy. However, we also found that NSIs decrease the dynamic range of co-housed ORNs, especially when they have similar sensitivity to an odorant. These results shed light, from a functional perspective, on the role of NSIs, which are normally avoided between neurons, for instance by myelination.

scholarly journals Concentration-Invariant Odor Representation in the Olfactory System by Presynaptic Inhibition

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danke Zhang ◽  
Yuanqing Li ◽  
Si Wu
Keyword(s):  
Olfactory Receptor ◽  
Olfactory System ◽  
Olfactory Receptor Neurons ◽  
Projection Neurons ◽  
Invariant Representation ◽  
Odor Concentration ◽  
Presynaptic Site ◽  
Divisive Normalization ◽  
Receptor Neurons ◽  
Parameter Condition

The present study investigates a network model for implementing concentration-invariant representation for odors in the olfactory system. The network consists of olfactory receptor neurons, projection neurons, and inhibitory local neurons. Receptor neurons send excitatory inputs to projection neurons, which are modulated by the inhibitory inputs from local neurons. The modulation occurs at the presynaptic site from a receptor neuron to a projection one, leading to the operation of divisive normalization. The responses of local interneurons are determined by the total activities of olfactory receptor neurons. We find that with a proper parameter condition, the responses of projection neurons become effectively independent of the odor concentration. Simulation results confirm our theoretical analysis.

scholarly journals Cholinergic calcium responses in cultured antennal lobe neurons of the migratory locust

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregor A. Bergmann ◽  
Gerd Bicker
Keyword(s):  
Olfactory Receptor ◽  
Intracellular Signaling ◽  
Antennal Lobe ◽  
Locusta Migratoria ◽  
Cytosolic Calcium ◽  
Olfactory Receptor Neurons ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Migratory Locust ◽  
Local Interneurons ◽  
Receptor Neurons

AbstractLocusts are advantageous organisms to elucidate mechanisms of olfactory coding at the systems level. Sensory input is provided by the olfactory receptor neurons of the antenna, which send their axons into the antennal lobe. So far, cellular properties of neurons isolated from the circuitry of the olfactory system, such as transmitter-induced calcium responses, have not been studied. Biochemical and immunocytochemical investigations have provided evidence for acetylcholine as classical transmitter of olfactory receptor neurons. Here, we characterize cell cultured projection and local interneurons of the antennal lobe by cytosolic calcium imaging to cholinergic stimulation. We bulk loaded the indicator dye Cal-520 AM in dissociated culture and recorded calcium transients after applying cholinergic agonists and antagonists. The majority of projection and local neurons respond with increases in calcium levels to activation of both nicotinic and muscarinic receptors. In local interneurons, we reveal interactions lasting over minutes between intracellular signaling pathways, mediated by muscarinic and nicotinic receptor stimulation. The present investigation is pioneer in showing that Cal-520 AM readily loads Locusta migratoria neurons, making it a valuable tool for future research in locust neurophysiology, neuropharmacology, and neurodevelopment.

scholarly journals Olfactory coding in the turbulent realm

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincent Jacob ◽  
Christelle Monsempès ◽  
Jean-Pierre Rospars ◽  
Jean-Baptiste Masson ◽  
Philippe Lucas
Keyword(s):  
White Noise ◽  
Firing Rate ◽  
Olfactory Receptor ◽  
Olfactory System ◽  
Time Course ◽  
Temporal Structure ◽  
Olfactory Receptor Neurons ◽  
Odor Source ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Receptor Neurons

AbstractLong-distance olfactory search behaviors depend on odor detection dynamics. Due to turbulence, olfactory signals travel as bursts of variable concentration and spacing and are characterized by long-tail distributions of odor/no-odor events, challenging the computing capacities of olfactory systems. How animals encode complex olfactory scenes to track the plume far from the source remains unclear. Here we focus on the coding of the plume temporal dynamics in moths. We compare responses of olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs) and antennal lobe projection neurons (PNs) to sequences of pheromone stimuli either with white-noise patterns or with realistic turbulent temporal structures simulating a large range of distances (8 to 64 m) from the odor source. For the first time, we analyze what information is extracted by the olfactory system at large distances from the source. Neuronal responses are analyzed using linear–nonlinear models fitted with white-noise stimuli and used for predicting responses to turbulent stimuli. We found that neuronal firing rate is less correlated with the dynamic odor time course when distance to the source increases because of improper coding during long odor and no-odor events that characterize large distances. Rapid adaptation during long puffs does not preclude however the detection of puff transitions in PNs. Individual PNs but not individual ORNs encode the onset and offset of odor puffs for any temporal structure of stimuli. A higher spontaneous firing rate coupled to an inhibition phase at the end of PN responses contributes to this coding property. This allows PNs to decode the temporal structure of the odor plume at any distance to the source, an essential piece of information moths can use in their tracking behavior.Author SummaryLong-distance olfactory search is a difficult task because atmospheric turbulence erases global gradients and makes the plume discontinuous. The dynamics of odor detections is the sole information about the position of the source. Male moths successfully track female pheromone plumes at large distances. Here we show that the moth olfactory system encodes olfactory scenes simulating variable distances from the odor source by characterizing puff onsets and offsets. A single projection neuron is sufficient to provide an accurate representation of the dynamic pheromone time course at any distance to the source while this information seems to be encoded at the population level in olfactory receptor neurons.

Sensillum-specific, topographic projection patterns of olfactory receptor neurons in the antennal lobe of the cockroach Periplaneta americana

2012 ◽  
Vol 520 (8) ◽  
pp. 1687-1701 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hidehiro Watanabe ◽  
S. Shuichi Haupt ◽  
Hiroshi Nishino ◽  
Michiko Nishikawa ◽  
Fumio Yokohari
Keyword(s):  
Olfactory Receptor ◽  
Antennal Lobe ◽  
Periplaneta Americana ◽  
Olfactory Receptor Neurons ◽  
Receptor Neurons

scholarly journals EAG Responses Increase of Spodoptera littoralis Antennae after a Single Pheromone Pulse

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 1934578X1400900 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carmen Quero ◽  
Berta Vidal ◽  
Angel Guerrero
Keyword(s):  
Olfactory Receptor ◽  
Spodoptera Littoralis ◽  
Antennal Lobe ◽  
Life Time ◽  
Olfactory Receptor Neurons ◽  
Average Life ◽  
Antennal Response ◽  
Behavioral Sensitivity ◽  
Response Increase ◽  
Receptor Neurons

Increased behavioral sensitivity to the pheromone after brief exposure of the whole insect to the sex pheromone has been documented in antennal lobe neurons of Spodoptera littoralis. We investigated whether a brief stimulus of the major component of the pheromone on naïve antenna separated from the head increased the electroantennographic responses after successive stimulations at different times. The response increase was clear 30 min after the first stimulation, and this effect lasted at least 60 min, the average life time of the antenna. Our results suggest that the olfactory receptor neurons, and not only the neurons in the antennal lobe, may be involved in the increased antennal response after a single pheromone pulse.

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