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The Journal of Neuroscience, March 15, 2000, 20(6):2383-2390
Peripheral Odor Coding in the Rat and Frog: Quality and Intensity
Specification
Patricia
Duchamp-Viret,
André
Duchamp, and
Michel A.
Chaput
Laboratoire de Neurosciences et Systèmes Sensoriels,
Unité Mixte de Recherche, Centre National de la Recherche
Scientifique-Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, 69622 Villeurbanne cedex, France
In mammals, two recent studies have shown recently that one odor
molecule can be recognized by several molecular olfactory receptors
(ORs), and a single OR can recognize multiple odor molecules. In
addition, one olfactory receptor neuron (ORN) may respond to different
stimuli chosen as representative of distinct odor qualities. The aim of
the present study was to analyze quality and intensity coding abilities
of rat single ORNs, comparing them with previous extensive data
gathered in the frog to get insight into the generality of olfactory
coding mechanisms over vertebrates.
Response properties of 90 rat ORNs to different odors or to one odor at
different concentrations were analyzed. In the rat and the frog, odor
quality appears to be specified through the identity of activated ORNs.
However, rat ORNs have higher response thresholds. This lower
sensitivity may be interpreted as an increase in selectivity of rat
ORNs for low or medium odor intensities. In these conditions, the lower
proportion of activated ORNs could be counterbalanced by their number,
as well as by their higher glomerular convergence ratio in the
olfactory bulb. From amphibians to mammals, the olfactory system
appears to use universal mechanisms based on a combinatorial-coding mode that may allow quasi-infinite possibilities of adaptation to various olfactory environments.
Key words:
olfaction; odor; rat olfactory receptor neurons; odor
coding; in vivo single-unit extracellular recordings; comparison between amphibian and mammalian olfactory receptor response
properties
Copyright © 2000 Society for Neuroscience 0270-6474/00/2062383-08$05.00/0
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