Olfactory coding with all-or-nothing glomeruli

Koulakov, A. A., Gelperin, A., Rinberg, D. (December 2007) Olfactory coding with all-or-nothing glomeruli. J Neurophysiol, 98 (6). pp. 3134-42. ISSN 0022-3077 (Print)

URL: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17855585
DOI: 10.1152/jn.00560.2007

Abstract

We present a model for olfactory coding based on spatial representation of glomerular responses. In this model distinct odorants activate specific subsets of glomeruli, dependent upon the odorant's chemical identity and concentration. The glomerular response specificities are understood statistically, based on experimentally measured distributions of detection thresholds. A simple version of the model, in which glomerular responses are binary (the all-or-nothing model), allows us to account quantitatively for the following results of human/rodent olfactory psychophysics: 1) just noticeable differences in the perceived concentration of a single odor (Weber ratios) are as low as dC/C ~ 0.04; 2) the number of simultaneously perceived odors can be as high as 12; 3) extensive lesions of the olfactory bulb do not lead to significant changes in detection or discrimination thresholds. We conclude that a combinatorial code based on a binary glomerular response is sufficient to account for several important aspects of the discrimination capacity of the mammalian olfactory system.

Item Type: Paper
Subjects: organism description > animal behavior
organs, tissues, organelles, cell types and functions > tissues types and functions > glomerulus
organism description > animal > mammal
organism description > animal behavior > olfactory
organs, tissues, organelles, cell types and functions > tissues types and functions > olfactory bulb
CSHL Authors:
Communities: CSHL labs > Koulakov lab
Depositing User: CSHL Librarian
Date: December 2007
Date Deposited: 14 Nov 2011 16:37
Last Modified: 18 Jan 2017 17:53
Related URLs:
URI: https://repository.cshl.edu/id/eprint/23072

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