Rat olfactory bulb mitral cells receive sparse glomerular inputs.
Neuron
; 59(5): 802-14, 2008 Sep 11.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-18786363
ABSTRACT
Center-surround receptive fields are a fundamental unit of brain organization. It has been proposed that olfactory bulb mitral cells exhibit this functional circuitry, with excitation from one glomerulus and inhibition from a broad field of glomeruli within reach of the lateral dendrites. We investigated this hypothesis using a combination of in vivo intrinsic imaging, single-unit recording, and a large panel of odors. Assuming a broad inhibitory field, a mitral cell would be influenced by >100 contiguous glomeruli and should respond to many odors. Instead, the observed response rate was an order of magnitude lower. A quantitative model indicates that mitral cell responses can be explained by just a handful of glomeruli. These glomeruli are spatially dispersed on the bulb and represent a broad range of odor sensitivities. We conclude that mitral cells do not have center-surround receptive fields. Instead, each mitral cell performs a specific computation combining a small and diverse set of glomerular inputs.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Olfactory Bulb
/
Smell
/
Neural Inhibition
/
Neurons
/
Odorants
Type of study:
Diagnostic_studies
Limits:
Animals
Language:
En
Journal:
Neuron
Journal subject:
NEUROLOGIA
Year:
2008
Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
United States