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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 95/3/1369    most recent 01334.2004v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (6) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Lehmkuhle, M. J. Articles by Maynard, E. M. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Lehmkuhle, M. J. Articles by Maynard, E. M.

Trial-by-Trial Discrimination of Three Enantiomer Pairs by Neural Ensembles in Mammalian Olfactory Bulb

¹Department of Bioengineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah; ²Department of Biomedical Engineering and ³Kresge Hearing Research Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan

Submitted 27 December 2004; accepted in final form 19 November 2005

Populations of output neurons in the mammalian olfactory bulb (OB) exhibit distinct, widespread spatial and temporal activation patterns when stimulated with odorants. However, questions remain as to how ensembles of mitral/tufted (M/T) neurons in the mammalian OB represent odorant information. In this report, the single-trial encoding limits of random ensembles of putative single- and multiunit M/T cells in the anesthetized rat OB during presentations of enantiomers of limonene, carvone, and 2-butanol are investigated using simultaneous multielectrode recording techniques. The results of these experiments are: the individual constituents of our recorded ensembles broadly represent information about the presented odorants, the ensemble single-trial response of small spatially distributed populations of M/T neurons can readily discriminate between six different odorants, and the most consistent odorant discrimination is attained when the ensemble consists of all available units and their responses are integrated over an entire breathing cycle. These results suggest that small differences in spike counts among the ensemble members become significant when taken within the context of the entire ensemble. This may explain how ensembles of broadly tuned OB neurons contribute to olfactory perception and may explain how small numbers of individual units receiving input from distinct olfactory receptor neurons can be combined to form a robust representation of odorants.

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