Representation of binary pheromone blends by glomerulus-specific olfactory projection neurons

作     者：Heinbockel, T Christensen, TA Hildebrand, JG 

作者机构：Univ Maryland Sch Med Dept Physiol Baltimore MD 21201 USA Univ Maryland Sch Med Program Neurosci Baltimore MD 21201 USA Howard Univ Coll Med Dept Anat Washington DC 20059 USA Univ Arizona Arizona Res Labs Div Neurobiol Tucson AZ 85721 USA 

出 版 物：《JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE PHYSIOLOGY A-NEUROETHOLOGY SENSORY NEURAL AND BEHAVIORAL PHYSIOLOGY》 (J. Comp. Physiol. A Neuroethol. Sens. Neural. Behav. Physiol.)

年 卷 期：2004年第190卷第12期

页      面：1023-1037页

核心收录：

学科分类：0402[教育学-心理学(可授教育学、理学学位）] 0710[理学-生物学] 1001[医学-基础医学(可授医学、理学学位)] 07[理学] 071003[理学-生理学] 

基　　金：NIAID NIH HHS [AI 23253] Funding Source: Medline NIDCD NIH HHS [R01 DC002751, DC 02751] Funding Source: Medline 

主　　题：antennal lobe glomerulus neural coding olfaction synaptic integration 

摘      要：An outstanding challenge in olfactory neurobiology is to explain how glomerular networks encode information about stimulus mixtures, which are typical of natural olfactory stimuli. In the moth Manduca sexta, a species-specific blend of two sex-pheromone components is required for reproductive signaling. Each component stimulates a different population of olfactory receptor cells that in turn target two identified glomeruli in the macroglomerular complex of the male s antennal lobe. Using intracellular recording and staining, we examined how responses of projection neurons innervating these glomeruli are modulated by changes in the level and ratio of the two essential components in stimulus blends. Compared to projection neurons specific for one component, projection neurons that integrated information about the blend ( received excitatory input from one component and inhibitory input from the other) showed enhanced ability to track a train of stimulus pulses. The precision of stimulus-pulse tracking was furthermore optimized at a synthetic blend ratio that mimics the physiological response to an extract of the female s pheromone gland. Optimal responsiveness of a projection neuron to repetitive stimulus pulses therefore appears to depend not only on stimulus intensity but also on the relative strength of the two opposing synaptic inputs that are integrated by macroglomerular complex projection neurons.