Rat Olfactory Bulb Mitral Cells Receive Sparse Glomerular Inputs
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.
Additional Information
© 2008 Elsevier Inc. Accepted 28 July 2008, Available online 10 September; 2008; Published: September 10, 2008. We thank Catherine Dulac, John Kauer, Venki Murthy, Clay Reid, Carla Shatz, Rachel Wilson, and members of the Meister lab for support and many helpful discussions.Attached Files
Supplemental Material - mmc1.pdf
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Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 75720
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.neuron.2008.07.039
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20170405-080226964
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2017-04-05Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2021-11-15Created from EPrint's last_modified field