scholarly journals Sniff-invariant intensity perception using olfactory bulb coding of inhalation dynamics

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Jordan ◽  
Mihaly Kollo ◽  
Andreas T Schaefer

SummaryFor stable perception of odor intensity, there must exist a neural correlate that is invariant across other parameters, such as the highly variable sniff cycle. Previous hypotheses suggest that variance in inhalation dynamics alters odor concentration profiles in the naris despite a constant environmental concentration. Using whole cell recordings in the olfactory bulb of awake mice, we directly demonstrate that rapid sniffing mimics the effect of odor concentration increase at the level of both mitral and tufted cell (MTC) firing rate responses and temporal responses. In contrast, we find that mice are capable of discriminating concentrations within short timescales despite highly variable sniffing behavior. We reason that the only way the olfactory system can differentiate between a change in sniffing and a change in concentration is to receive information about the inhalation parameters in parallel with information about the odor. While conceivably this could be achieved via corollary discharge from respiration control centres, we find that the sniff-driven activity of MTCs without odor input is informative of the kind of inhalation that just occurred, allowing rapid detection of a change in inhalation. Thus, a possible reason for sniff modulation of the early olfactory system may be to inform downstream centres of nasal flow dynamics, so that an inference can be made about environmental concentration independent of sniff variance.


2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (41) ◽  
pp. 12846-12851 ◽  
Author(s):  
Filomene G. Morrison ◽  
Brian G. Dias ◽  
Kerry J. Ressler

Although much work has investigated the contribution of brain regions such as the amygdala, hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex to the processing of fear learning and memory, fewer studies have examined the role of sensory systems, in particular the olfactory system, in the detection and perception of cues involved in learning and memory. The primary sensory receptive field maps of the olfactory system are exquisitely organized and respond dynamically to cues in the environment, remaining plastic from development through adulthood. We have previously demonstrated that olfactory fear conditioning leads to increased odorant-specific receptor representation in the main olfactory epithelium and in glomeruli within the olfactory bulb. We now demonstrate that olfactory extinction training specific to the conditioned odor stimulus reverses the conditioning-associated freezing behavior and odor learning-induced structural changes in the olfactory epithelium and olfactory bulb in an odorant ligand-specific manner. These data suggest that learning-induced freezing behavior, structural alterations, and enhanced neural sensory representation can be reversed in adult mice following extinction training.



2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gowoon Son ◽  
Seung-Jun Yoo ◽  
Shinwoo Kang ◽  
Ameer Rasheed ◽  
Da Hae Jung ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Hyposmia in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a typical early symptom according to numerous previous clinical studies. Although amyloid-β (Aβ), which is one of the toxic factors upregulated early in AD, has been identified in many studies, even in the peripheral areas of the olfactory system, the pathology involving olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs) remains poorly understood. Methods Here, we focused on peripheral olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs) and delved deeper into the direct relationship between pathophysiological and behavioral results using odorants. We also confirmed histologically the pathological changes in 3-month-old 5xFAD mouse models, which recapitulates AD pathology. We introduced a numeric scale histologically to compare physiological phenomenon and local tissue lesions regardless of the anatomical plane. Results We observed the odorant group that the 5xFAD mice showed reduced responses to odorants. These also did not physiologically activate OSNs that propagate their axons to the ventral olfactory bulb. Interestingly, the amount of accumulated amyloid-β (Aβ) was high in the OSNs located in the olfactory epithelial ectoturbinate and the ventral olfactory bulb glomeruli. We also observed irreversible damage to the ectoturbinate of the olfactory epithelium by measuring the impaired neuronal turnover ratio from the basal cells to the matured OSNs. Conclusions Our results showed that partial and asymmetrical accumulation of Aβ coincided with physiologically and structurally damaged areas in the peripheral olfactory system, which evoked hyporeactivity to some odorants. Taken together, partial olfactory dysfunction closely associated with peripheral OSN’s loss could be a leading cause of AD-related hyposmia, a characteristic of early AD.



eLife ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Roland ◽  
Rebecca Jordan ◽  
Dara L Sosulski ◽  
Assunta Diodato ◽  
Izumi Fukunaga ◽  
...  

Perturbations in neural circuits can provide mechanistic understanding of the neural correlates of behavior. In M71 transgenic mice with a “monoclonal nose”, glomerular input patterns in the olfactory bulb are massively perturbed and olfactory behaviors are altered. To gain insights into how olfactory circuits can process such degraded inputs we characterized odor-evoked responses of olfactory bulb mitral cells and interneurons. Surprisingly, calcium imaging experiments reveal that mitral cell responses in M71 transgenic mice are largely normal, highlighting a remarkable capacity of olfactory circuits to normalize sensory input. In vivo whole cell recordings suggest that feedforward inhibition from olfactory bulb periglomerular cells can mediate this signal normalization. Together, our results identify inhibitory circuits in the olfactory bulb as a mechanistic basis for many of the behavioral phenotypes of mice with a “monoclonal nose” and highlight how substantially degraded odor input can be transformed to yield meaningful olfactory bulb output.



PLoS ONE ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. e0165230
Author(s):  
Zu Soh ◽  
Shinya Nishikawa ◽  
Yuichi Kurita ◽  
Noboru Takiguchi ◽  
Toshio Tsuji


1956 ◽  
Vol 186 (2) ◽  
pp. 255-257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raymond R. Walsh

Studies of single-cell spike discharges in the olfactory bulb of the rabbit indicate the presence of three classes of neurons as characterized by their discharge patterns. Cells of class I discharge continuously and spontaneously; class II cells discharge intermittently in bursts, in synchrony with the passage of air through the nose. Cells of classes I and II are unmodified during olfactory stimulation. It appears there are many cells in the olfactory bulb whose discharge patterns are unrelated to excitation of the olfactory receptors by odors. Cells of class III respond to appropriate odors; the response of such cells to some odors and not others indicates that odor specificity is a fundamental characteristic of the olfactory system.



Neuroscience ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 162 (2) ◽  
pp. 482-485 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Smitka ◽  
N. Abolmaali ◽  
M. Witt ◽  
J.C. Gerber ◽  
W. Neuhuber ◽  
...  


Cell ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 79 (7) ◽  
pp. 1245-1255 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kerry J. Ressler ◽  
Susan L. Sullivan ◽  
Linda B. Buck




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