Abstract
In many sensory systems, different sensory features are transmitted in parallel by several different types of output neurons. In the mouse olfactory bulb, there are only two output neuron types, the mitral and tufted cells (M/T), which receive similar odor inputs, but they are believed to transmit different odor characteristics. How these two neuron types deliver different odor information is unclear. Here, by combining electrophysiology and optogenetics, it is shown that distinct inhibitory networks modulate M/T cell responses differently. Overall strong lateral inhibition was scarce, with most neurons receiving lateral inhibition from a handful of unorganized surrounding glomeruli (~5% on average). However, there was a considerable variability between different neuron types in the strength and frequency of lateral inhibition. Strong lateral inhibition was mostly found in neurons locked to the first half of the respiration cycle. In contrast, weak inhibition arriving from many surrounding glomeruli was relatively more common in neurons locked to the late phase of the respiration cycle. Proximal neurons could receive different levels of inhibition. These results suggest that there is considerable diversity in the way M/T cells process odors so that even neurons that receive the same odor input transmit different odor information to the cortex.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 1602 |
Journal | Scientific Reports |
Volume | 9 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 7 Feb 2019 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2019, The Author(s).
Funding
We thank Dan Rokni and Noam Sobel for their comments on the manuscript. We thank Mark Grobman and Ofer Perl for their excellent technical assistance. This work was supported by a grant from the Israel Science Foundation within the ISF-UGC joint research program and from the I-CORE Program of the Planning and Budgeting Committee [2307/15 and 51/11].
Funders | Funder number |
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ISF-UGC | |
Israel Science Foundation | |
Israeli Centers for Research Excellence | 51/11, 2307/15 |