Odor information processing along an OR-specific neuronal pathway
PIs:
The glomeruli of the vertebrate main olfactory bulb (MOB) represent the first relay station for odor information processing in the brain. Each glomerulus receives convergent input from all olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs) expressing the same odorant receptor (OR). The proposed project is aimed to explore, how the functional dynamics of OSN input is processed into the MOB output signal in a single glomerular unit. To address these questions we will employ state of the art in vivo optical and electrophysiological recording techniques and the OSNs expressing OR37 receptors as a model system; these cells offer the unique experimental advantage of spatial clustering in the olfactory epithelium and projection to a single glomerulus. Based on the observation that the projection neurons which are connected to an OR37 glomerulus send their axons to the medial amygdala, which mainly receives input from the accessory olfactory bulb, it can be studied for the first time by employing a precisely defined stimulus, how information detected by these two chemosensory subsystems may be integrated in this brain region. Knowledge about the underlying principles is supposed to broaden our understanding of olfactory information processing.