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Odor maps in the mammalian olfactory bulb: domain organization and odorant structural features

Abstract

Psychophysical studies indicate that structural features of odorants differentially influence their perceived odor. In the olfactory bulb (OB), odorants are represented by ensembles of activated glomeruli. Here we used optical imaging of intrinsic signals to examine how these structural features are represented spatially in the sensory map of the rat OB. We found that the dorsal OB contained two topographically fixed domains; constituent glomeruli in each domain could be activated by odorants with particular functional groups. Within each domain, other structural features such as carbon chain length and branching were represented by local differences in patterns. These results suggest that structural features are categorized into two classes, primary features (functional groups) that characterize each domain, and secondary features that are represented by local positions within each domain. Such hierarchical representations of different structural features correlate well with psychophysical structure–odor relationships.

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Figure 1: A homologous series of carboxylic acids and aliphatic aldehydes activate glomeruli clustered in an anteromedial domain of the dorsal OB.
Figure 2: A homologous series of aliphatic alcohols and phenols activates glomeruli clustered in a lateral domain of the dorsal OB.
Figure 3: Anteromedial and lateral domains are distinct in the molecular receptive range of their constituent glomeruli.
Figure 4: A switch in the activated domain can be produced by a slight change in type and position of functional group.
Figure 5: Glomerular activity in the anteromedial domain elicited by a series of aliphatic esters.
Figure 6: Aliphatic acids with branched carbon chains and a double bond activated glomeruli in the anteromedial domain.
Figure 7: Position of the anteromedial and lateral domains in the sensory map of the main OB.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Z. Mainen and S. L. Macknik for comments on the manuscript, H. Kashiwadani and Y. F. Sasaki for help in initial experiments, M. Fukuda, M. Matsumoto and A. Ajima for technical advice and M. Takeichi for the antibody against αN-catenin. We also thank K. Takagi, A. Onuma, H. Osada and J. Ide for advice on odorants and their vapor pressures. This work was supported in part by grants from the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture in Japan, the Human Frontier Science Program (K.M.) and the Special Postdoctoral Researchers Program in RIKEN (N.U.).

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Uchida, N., Takahashi, Y., Tanifuji, M. et al. Odor maps in the mammalian olfactory bulb: domain organization and odorant structural features. Nat Neurosci 3, 1035–1043 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/79857

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