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The Journal of Neuroscience, May 18, 2005, 25(20):5024-5028; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0297-05.2005
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BRIEF COMMUNICATION
Tuft Calcium Spikes in Accessory Olfactory Bulb Mitral Cells
Nathaniel N. Urban1 and
Jason B. Castro2
1Department of Biological Sciences and Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213, and 2Center for Neuroscience at the University of Pittsburgh and Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260
The mammalian accessory olfactory system is critical for the detection and identification of pheromones and the representation of complex stimuli including sex, genetic relatedness, and individual identity. Mitral cells, the principal cells of the accessory olfactory bulb (AOB), receive monosynaptic input from the sensory periphery and already show highly specific response properties, firing selectively for combinations of genetic markers and gender-specific cues. Vomeronasal sensory neuron axons form synapses onto distal tuft-like branches of mitral cell primary dendrites. We have studied dendritic excitability and synaptic integration in AOB mitral cell dendrites, and we show that dendrites of accessory olfactory bulb mitral cells support action potential propagation and can fire regenerative spike-like events that are likely to contribute to the integration of inputs to these cells. These tuft spikes may be important for the specificity of AOB mitral cell responses.
Key words: pheromone; vomeronasal; dendritic spike; glomerulus; synaptic integration; mitral cell
Received Aug 16, 2004;
revised March 31, 2005;
accepted April 14, 2005.
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