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Odour-plume dynamics influence the brain's olfactory code

Author

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  • Neil J. Vickers

    (The University of Arizona
    Iowa State University)

  • Thomas A. Christensen

    (The University of Arizona)

  • Thomas C. Baker

    (Iowa State University)

  • John G. Hildebrand

    (The University of Arizona)

Abstract

The neural computations used to represent olfactory information in the brain have long been investigated1,2,3. Recent studies in the insect antennal lobe suggest that precise temporal and/or spatial patterns of activity underlie the recognition and discrimination of different odours3,4,5,6,7, and that these patterns may be strengthened by associative learning8,9. It remains unknown, however, whether these activity patterns persist when odour intensity varies rapidly and unpredictably, as often occurs in nature10,11. Here we show that with naturally intermittent odour stimulation, spike patterns recorded from moth antennal-lobe output neurons varied predictably with the fine-scale temporal dynamics and intensity of the odour. These data support the hypothesis that olfactory circuits compensate for contextual variations in the stimulus pattern with high temporal precision. The timing of output neuron activity is constantly modulated to reflect ongoing changes in stimulus intensity and dynamics that occur on a millisecond timescale.

Suggested Citation

  • Neil J. Vickers & Thomas A. Christensen & Thomas C. Baker & John G. Hildebrand, 2001. "Odour-plume dynamics influence the brain's olfactory code," Nature, Nature, vol. 410(6827), pages 466-470, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:410:y:2001:i:6827:d:10.1038_35068559
    DOI: 10.1038/35068559
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