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PubMed2002

Identification of chemosensory sensilla activating antennular grooming behavior in the Caribbean spiny lobster, Panulirus argus.

Crustaceans such as crabs and lobsters clean or 'groom' their olfactory organ, the antennule, by wiping it through a pair of mouthpart appendages, the third maxillipeds. In the lobster, only a few chemicals found in prey extracts, especially glutamate, elicit grooming. Chemosensory input driving grooming is likely to be mediated via sensilla located on antennules and third maxillipeds. Chemosensory antennular sensilla are innervated by neurons with central projections either to the glomerular olfactory lobe (aesthetasc sensilla) or to non-glomerular antennular neuropils (nonaesthetasc sensilla). By selectively ablating the chemosensory sensilla on the antennules and the third maxillipeds we have determined that the aesthetascs are necessary and sufficient to drive grooming behavior. Chemosensory activation of antennular grooming behavior likely follows a 'labeled-line' model in that aesthetasc neurons tuned to glutamate provide adequate input via the olfactory lobe to motor centers in the brain controlling antennular movements.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed2002

Aggregation of f-actin in olfactory glomeruli: a common feature of glomeruli across phyla.

Using fluorophore-conjugated phalloidin, we show that filamentous (F)-actin is strongly aggregated in olfactory glomeruli within primary olfactory centers of vertebrates and insects. Our comparative study demonstrates that aggregation of F-actin is a common feature of glomeruli across phyla, and is independent of glomerular architecture and/or the presence or absence of cellular borders around glomeruli formed by neurons or glial cells. The distribution of F-actin in axonal and dendritic compartments within glomeruli, however, appears different between vertebrates and insects. The potential role of the actin-based cytoskeleton in synaptic and structural plasticity within glomeruli is discussed.

Actins↗
PubMed2003

Does the lateral bundle of the medial olfactory tract mediate reproductive behavior in male crucian carp?

The olfactory tract in crucian carp (Carassius carassius) is divided into three distinct bundles: the lateral tract (LOT) and the lateral (lMOT) and medial (mMOT) bundles of the medial tract. The LOT has been shown to mediate information associated with feeding behavior, whereas the mMOT mediates information associated with alarm response. The role of the medial olfactory tract (lMOT and mMOT) in reproductive behavior is still under debate. In the present experiment, male reproductive behavior towards prostaglandin-injected females was investigated before and after cutting off the different olfactory tract bundles, to determine which of the tract bundles is essential for mediating reproductive behavior in male crucian carp. The fish were maintained in physiological saline before and after surgery to preserve the remaining tract bundles. Operations were performed symmetrically on both sides and post-operative inspections revealed the functionality of the intact tracts. Sham-operated males and males with only the lMOT intact showed typical reproductive behavior, with following of the female and inspections of the female anal papilla. However, males in which the lMOT was cut, leaving both the mMOT and the LOT intact, showed reduced reproductive behavior. Our results suggest that the lMOT mediates reproductive behavior in male crucian carp.

Animals↗
PubMed1997

Distribution of beta-amyloid in the canine brain.

The distribution of amyloid-beta protein (A beta) in the canine brain was demonstrated by immunochemistry on serially sectioned tissues from 10 aged mixed breed dogs. Summation of quantitative data and relegation to anatomical sites for the 10 dogs showed A beta to be widely distributed in the cortex and hippocampus while completely absent in the brain stem and cerebellum. The highest density of A beta was in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus. Cortical areas exhibiting the greatest A beta deposition were the posterior and medial suprasylvius gyrus and the proreus gyrus of the frontal lobe. Unlike humans the canine entorhinal cortex, amygdala, basal ganglia and olfactory bulbs were rarely affected. This suggested that the highly developed olfactory pathways of the canine are generally spared from A beta deposition.

Aging↗
PubMed2005

Spatio-temporal Ca2+ dynamics of moth olfactory projection neurones.

We studied the Ca2+ dynamics of odour-evoked glomerular patterns in the antennal lobe of the moth Spodoptera littoralis using optical imaging. Here we selectively stained a large population of antennal lobe output neurones, projection neurones, by retrograde filling with FURA-dextran from the inner antennocerebral tract in the protocerebrum. Different plant-associated odorants evoked distributed patterns of activated glomeruli that were odour dependent and repeatable. These patterns were, however, dynamic during the period of odour exposure. Temporal responses differed across glomeruli and were stimulus dependent. Next we examined how the correlations between patterns evoked by different odorants changed with time. Initially, responses to structurally similar compounds were highly correlated, whereas responses to structurally different compounds differed. Within the period of odour exposure (1 s) we found a significant reduction in similarity of responses evoked by different odours, irrespective of initial similarity, whereas trial-to-trial correlations remained high. Our results suggested an ability for coarse classification at the initial encounter with an odour source. With time, however, the discrimination ability increases and structurally similar odours can be distinguished.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Projection of the Grüneberg ganglion to the mouse olfactory bulb.

In mammals, sensory neurons from the main olfactory and vomeronasal systems project their axons to the olfactory bulbs in the brain. We here report that a cluster of neurons, distinct from these two systems, located at the very tip of the mouse nose and called the Grüneberg ganglion expresses the mature olfactory-sensory neuron-specific marker olfactory marker protein (OMP), but is unlikely to express known odorant or pheromone receptors. The ganglion is present at birth and maintained during adult life. Tracing experiments indicate that these neurons target ipsilaterally to a specific set of glomeruli located on the caudal part of the olfactory bulb, and that this connection is necessary for the survival of the ganglion. The glomerular targets are structures previously proposed to be associated with suckling behaviour. These observations strongly suggest that this peculiar olfactory neuronal population plays a sensory role, possibly linked to chemoperception.

Amino Acids↗
PubMed2006

Neural representation of olfactory mixtures in the honeybee antennal lobe.

Natural olfactory stimuli occur as mixtures of many single odors. We studied whether the representation of a mixture in the brain retains single-odor information and how much mixture-specific information it includes. To understand mixture representation in the honeybee brain, we used in vivo calcium imaging at the level of the antennal lobe, and systematically measured odor-evoked activity in 24 identified glomeruli in response to four single odorants and all their possible binary, ternary and quaternary mixtures. Qualitatively, mixture-induced activity patterns always contained glomeruli belonging to the pattern of at least one of the components, suggesting a high conservation of component information in olfactory mixtures. Quantitatively, glomerular activity saturated quickly and increasing the number of components resulted in an increase of cases in which the response of a glomerulus to the mixture was lower than that to the strongest component ('suppression'). This shows global inhibition in the antennal lobe, probably acting as overall gain control. Single components were not equally salient (in terms of number of active glomeruli) and mixture activity patterns were always more similar to the more salient components, in a way that could be predicted linearly. Thus, although a gain control system in the honeybee antennal lobe prevents saturation of the olfactory system, mixture representation follows essentially elemental rules.

Animals↗
PubMed1998

Induced peripheral sensitivity in the developing vertebrate olfactory system.

The high dimensionality and unpredictability of the chemical world makes it difficult for the olfactory system to anticipate relevant stimuli and construct neural filters accordingly. A developmental solution to this problem would be to alter the sensory surface according to environmental conditions so as to enhance sensitivity to molecules of particular relevance. Evidence for this has been obtained in the rabbit. By feeding pregnant does aromatic juniper berries, it could be shown that newborn, weanling and even adult animals demonstrate a preference for juniper odor without subsequent postnatal experience, and that this is associated with enhanced peripheral sensitivity for juniper odor as measured by electro-olfactogram (EOG). This is consistent with the report that in young salmon olfactory imprinting is associated with enhanced, odor-specific sensitivity of receptor cells as measured by patch clamp. The mechanisms underlying such changes are unknown, including the extent to which they are a particular feature of developing systems.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

The parahippocampal region: corticocortical connectivity.

The parahippocampal region, as defined in this review, comprises the cortical regions that surround the rodent hippocampus including the perirhinal, postrhinal, and entorhinal cortices. The comparable regions in the primate brain are the perirhinal, parahippocampal, and entorhinal cortices. The perirhinal and postrhinal/parahippocampal cortices provide the major polysensory input to the hippocampus through their entorhinal connections and are the recipients of differing combinations of sensory information. The differences in the perirhinal and postrhinal cortical afferentation have important functional implications, in part, because these two regions project with different terminal patterns to the entorhinal cortex. The perirhinal cortex projects preferentially to the lateral entorhinal area (LEA), and the postrhinal cortex projects preferentially to the medial entorhinal area (MEA) and the caudal portion of LEA. Although the perirhinal and postrhinal cortices provide the major cortical input to the entorhinal cortex, the entorhinal cortex itself receives some direct cortical input. An examination of the cortical afferentation of the entorhinal cortex reveals an interesting principle of connectivity among these regions; the composition of the direct neocortical input to the LEA is more similar to that of the perirhinal cortex, and the composition of the direct neocortical input to the MEA is more similar to that of the postrhinal cortex. Thus, polymodal associational input to the LEA and the MEA exhibits some segregation and is organized in parallel. The organization of intrinsic connections for each of the parahippocampal regions also contributes to the segregation of information into parallel pathways.

Animals↗
PubMed2003

Transformation of olfactory representations in the Drosophila antennal lobe.

Molecular genetics has revealed a precise stereotypy in the projection of primary olfactory sensory neurons onto secondary neurons. A major challenge is to understand how this mapping translates into odor responses in these second-order neurons. We investigated this question in Drosophila using whole-cell recordings in vivo. We observe that monomolecular odors generally elicit responses in large ensembles of antennal lobe neurons. Comparison of odor-evoked activity from afferents and postsynaptic neurons in the same glomerulus revealed that second-order neurons display broader tuning and more complex responses than their primary afferents. This indicates a major transformation of odor representations, implicating lateral interactions within the antennal lobe.

Action Potentials↗
PubMed2004

Postnatal refinement of peripheral olfactory projections.

Axonal projections from the olfactory epithelium to the olfactory bulb are organized into glomeruli according to the expressed odorant receptor. Using gene-targeted mice, we show that glomerular maturation proceeds along different time courses for two similar receptors and requires sensory input during distinct sensitive periods. During early development, some glomeruli are innervated by axons of neurons that do not express the same receptor. These heterogeneous glomeruli normally disappear with age, but they persist in adults deprived of sensory input by unilateral and permanent naris closure. Persistence may be due, in part, to prolonged survival of olfactory sensory neurons.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Rats smell in stereo.

It has been hypothesized that rats and other mammals can use stereo cues to localize odor sources, but there is limited behavioral evidence to support this hypothesis. We found that rats trained on an odor-localization task can localize odors accurately in one or two sniffs. Bilateral sampling was essential for accurate odor localization, with internasal intensity and timing differences as directional cues. If the stimulus arrived at the correct point of the respiration cycle, internasal timing differences as short as 50 milliseconds sufficed. Neuronal recordings show that bulbar neurons responded differentially to stimuli from the left and stimuli from the right.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

RETRACTED: Combinatorial effects of odorant mixes in olfactory cortex.

In mammals, each odorant is detected by a combination of different odorant receptors. Signals from different types of receptors are segregated in the nose and the olfactory bulb, but appear to be combined in individual neurons in the olfactory cortex. Here, we report that binary odorant mixes stimulate cortical neurons that are not stimulated by their individual component odorants. We propose that cortical neurons require combinations of receptor inputs for activation and that merging the receptor codes of two odorants provides novel combinations of receptor inputs that stimulate neurons beyond those activated by the single odorants. These findings may explain why odorant mixtures can elicit novel odor percepts in humans.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Widespread expression of BDNF but not NT3 by target areas of basal forebrain cholinergic neurons.

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and neurotrophin-3 (NT3) are homologs of the well-known neurotrophic factor nerve growth factor. The three members of this family display distinct patterns of target specificity. To examine the distribution in brain of messenger RNA for these molecules, in situ hybridization was performed. Cells hybridizing intensely to antisense BDNF probe were located throughout the major targets of the rat basal forebrain cholinergic system, that is, the hippocampus, amygdala, and neocortex. Strongly hybridizing cells were also observed in structures associated with the olfactory system. The distribution of NT3 mRNA in forebrain was much more limited. Within the hippocampus, labeled cells were restricted to CA2, the most medial portion of CA1, and the dentate gyrus. In human hippocampus, cells expressing BDNF mRNA are distributed in a fashion similar to that observed in the rat. These findings point to both basal forebrain cholinergic cells and olfactory pathways as potential central targets for BDNF.

Acetylcholine↗
PubMed1999

The olfactory bulb: coding and processing of odor molecule information.

Olfactory sensory neurons detect a large variety of odor molecules and send information through their axons to the olfactory bulb, the first site for the processing of olfactory information in the brain. The axonal connection is precisely organized so that signals from 1000 different types of odorant receptors are sorted out in 1800 glomeruli in the mouse olfactory bulb. Individual glomerular modules presumably represent a single type of receptor and are thus tuned to specific molecular features of odorants. Local neuronal circuits in the bulb mediate lateral inhibition among glomerular modules to sharpen the tuning specificity of output neurons. They also mediate synchronized oscillatory discharges among specific combinations of output neurons and may contribute to the integration of signals from distinct odorant receptors in the olfactory cortex.

Action Potentials↗