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PLoS Computational Biology Feb 2022Dendrodendritic interactions between excitatory mitral cells and inhibitory granule cells in the olfactory bulb create a dense interaction network, reorganizing sensory...
Dendrodendritic interactions between excitatory mitral cells and inhibitory granule cells in the olfactory bulb create a dense interaction network, reorganizing sensory representations of odors and, consequently, perception. Large-scale computational models are needed for revealing how the collective behavior of this network emerges from its global architecture. We propose an approach where we summarize anatomical information through dendritic geometry and density distributions which we use to calculate the connection probability between mitral and granule cells, while capturing activity patterns of each cell type in the neural dynamical systems theory of Izhikevich. In this way, we generate an efficient, anatomically and physiologically realistic large-scale model of the olfactory bulb network. Our model reproduces known connectivity between sister vs. non-sister mitral cells; measured patterns of lateral inhibition; and theta, beta, and gamma oscillations. The model in turn predicts testable relationships between network structure and several functional properties, including lateral inhibition, odor pattern decorrelation, and LFP oscillation frequency. We use the model to explore the influence of cortex on the olfactory bulb, demonstrating possible mechanisms by which cortical feedback to mitral cells or granule cells can influence bulbar activity, as well as how neurogenesis can improve bulbar decorrelation without requiring cell death. Our methodology provides a tractable tool for other researchers.
Topics: Humans; Olfactory Bulb; Smell
PubMed: 35130267
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1009856 -
Cell and Tissue Research Jan 2021The ability of the olfactory system to detect and discriminate a broad spectrum of odor molecules with extraordinary sensitivity relies on a wide range of odorant... (Review)
Review
The ability of the olfactory system to detect and discriminate a broad spectrum of odor molecules with extraordinary sensitivity relies on a wide range of odorant receptors and on the distinct architecture of neuronal circuits in olfactory brain areas. More than 1000 odorant receptors, distributed almost randomly in the olfactory epithelium, are plotted out in two mirror-symmetric maps of glomeruli in the olfactory bulb, the first relay station of the olfactory system. How does such a precise spatial arrangement of glomeruli emerge from a random distribution of receptor neurons? Remarkably, the identity of odorant receptors defines not only the molecular receptive range of sensory neurons but also their glomerular target. Despite their key role, odorant receptors are not the only determinant, since the specificity of neuronal connections emerges from a complex interplay between several molecular cues and electrical activity. This review provides an overview of the mechanisms underlying olfactory circuit formation. In particular, recent findings on the role of odorant receptors in regulating axon targeting and of spontaneous activity in the development and maintenance of synaptic connections are discussed.
Topics: Animals; Brain Mapping; Odorants; Olfactory Bulb
PubMed: 33404841
DOI: 10.1007/s00441-020-03348-w -
Development (Cambridge, England) Feb 2022The mammalian main olfactory bulb is a crucial processing centre for the sense of smell. The olfactory bulb forms early during development and is functional from birth.... (Review)
Review
The mammalian main olfactory bulb is a crucial processing centre for the sense of smell. The olfactory bulb forms early during development and is functional from birth. However, the olfactory system continues to mature and change throughout life as a target of constitutive adult neurogenesis. Our Review synthesises current knowledge of prenatal, postnatal and adult olfactory bulb development, focusing on the maturation, morphology, functions and interactions of its diverse constituent glutamatergic and GABAergic cell types. We highlight not only the great advances in the understanding of olfactory bulb development made in recent years, but also the gaps in our present knowledge that most urgently require addressing.
Topics: Animals; Axons; Bone Morphogenetic Proteins; Neurogenesis; Olfactory Bulb; Olfactory Receptor Neurons; Signal Transduction; Synapses
PubMed: 35147186
DOI: 10.1242/dev.200210 -
FEBS Letters Aug 2014Neuronal circuits in the olfactory bulb transform odor-evoked activity patterns across the input channels, the olfactory glomeruli, into distributed activity patterns... (Review)
Review
Neuronal circuits in the olfactory bulb transform odor-evoked activity patterns across the input channels, the olfactory glomeruli, into distributed activity patterns across the output neurons, the mitral cells. One computation associated with this transformation is a decorrelation of activity patterns representing similar odors. Such a decorrelation has various benefits for the classification and storage of information by associative networks in higher brain areas. Experimental results from adult zebrafish show that pattern decorrelation involves a redistribution of activity across the population of mitral cells. These observations imply that pattern decorrelation cannot be explained by a global scaling mechanism but that it depends on interactions between distinct subsets of neurons in the network. This article reviews insights into the network mechanism underlying pattern decorrelation and discusses recent results that link pattern decorrelation in the olfactory bulb to odor discrimination behavior.
Topics: Animals; Evoked Potentials, Somatosensory; Nerve Net; Neurons; Olfactory Bulb; Smell; Zebrafish
PubMed: 24911205
DOI: 10.1016/j.febslet.2014.05.055 -
The Journal of Neuroscience : the... Oct 2012The olfactory system encodes information about molecules by spatiotemporal patterns of activity across distributed populations of neurons and extracts information from... (Review)
Review
The olfactory system encodes information about molecules by spatiotemporal patterns of activity across distributed populations of neurons and extracts information from these patterns to control specific behaviors. Recent studies used in vivo recordings, optogenetics, and other methods to analyze the mechanisms by which odor information is encoded and processed in the olfactory system, the functional connectivity within and between olfactory brain areas, and the impact of spatiotemporal patterning of neuronal activity on higher-order neurons and behavioral outputs. The results give rise to a faceted picture of olfactory processing and provide insights into fundamental mechanisms underlying neuronal computations. This review focuses on some of this work presented in a Mini-Symposium at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in 2012.
Topics: Animals; Humans; Odorants; Olfactory Bulb; Olfactory Pathways; Olfactory Receptor Neurons; Optogenetics
PubMed: 23055479
DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3328-12.2012 -
Brain Pathology (Zurich, Switzerland) May 2016The olfactory bulb with its unique architecture was studied for neuronal maturation in human fetuses. Neuroblasts stream into the olfactory bulb from the rostral...
The olfactory bulb with its unique architecture was studied for neuronal maturation in human fetuses. Neuroblasts stream into the olfactory bulb from the rostral telencephalon and secondarily migrate radially. The transitory olfactory ventricular recess regresses postnatally. Olfactory is the only sensory system without thalamic projections but incorporates intrinsic thalamic equivalents. The bulb is a repository of progenitor cells. Maturation of the bulb and tract was studied in 18 normal human fetuses of 16-41 weeks gestation; mid-gestational twins with hydrocephalus; 7 arrhinencephaly/holoprosencephaly; 2 olfactory dysgeneses. Multiple immunoreactivities were performed. Synaptophysin around mitral neurons, in a few synaptic glomeruli and concentric lamination of the outer granular layer, was seen at 16 weeks. Outer granular neurons exhibited NeuN at 16 weeks, only 2/3 were reactive at term. Concentric alternating sheets of granular neurons and their dendrodendritic synapses are seen during maturation. Calretinin reactivity is seen in neurons and neurites, primary olfactory nerve axons, periglomerular cells and neuroepithelial cells surrounding the ventricular recess; reactivity occurs later in synaptic glomeruli than with synaptophysin; not all glomeruli are strongly reactive even at term. Nestin- and vimentin-reactive bipolar progenitor cells were demonstrated at all ages and extend into the olfactory tract. Myelin is demonstrated by Luxol fast blue (LFB) only postnatally. In hydrocephalus, the olfactory recess is dilated. Mitral cell dispersion, disrupted glomeruli, heterotopia and maturational delay are seen in some dysgeneses. Malformations exhibit unique findings. Fusion of hypoplastic bulbs can occur. Abnormal architecture is seen in hemimegalencephaly. More documentation of olfactory dysgenesis is needed in other major brain malformations.
Topics: Fetus; Humans; Neurogenesis; Olfactory Bulb
PubMed: 26096058
DOI: 10.1111/bpa.12275 -
Cell and Tissue Research Jan 2021Evolutionarily, olfaction is one of the oldest senses and pivotal for an individual's health and survival. The olfactory bulb (OB), as the first olfactory relay station... (Review)
Review
Evolutionarily, olfaction is one of the oldest senses and pivotal for an individual's health and survival. The olfactory bulb (OB), as the first olfactory relay station in the brain, is known to heavily process sensory information. To adapt to an animal's needs, OB activity can be influenced by many factors either from within (intrinsic neuromodulation) or outside (extrinsic neuromodulation) the OB which include neurotransmitters, neuromodulators, hormones, and neuropeptides. Extrinsic sources seem to be of special importance as the OB receives massive efferent input from numerous brain centers even outweighing the sensory input from the nose. Here, we review neuromodulatory processes in the rodent OB from such extrinsic sources. We will discuss extrinsic neuromodulation according to points of origin, receptors involved, affected circuits, and changes in behavior. In the end, we give a brief outlook on potential future directions in research on neuromodulation in the OB.
Topics: Animals; Olfactory Bulb; Rodentia
PubMed: 33355709
DOI: 10.1007/s00441-020-03365-9 -
PloS One 2016The changes in olfactory bulb (OB) volume in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients have not yet been comprehensively evaluated. The purpose of this meta-analysis was to... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis Review
OBJECTIVE
The changes in olfactory bulb (OB) volume in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients have not yet been comprehensively evaluated. The purpose of this meta-analysis was to explore whether the OB volume was significantly different between PD patients and healthy controls.
METHODS
PubMed and Embase were searched up to March 6, 2015 with no language restrictions. Two independent reviewers screened eligible studies and extracted data on study characteristics and OB volume. Additionally, a systematic review and meta-analysis using a random-effects model were conducted. Publication bias was determined by using funnel plots and Begg's and Egger's tests. Subgroup analyses were performed to assess possible sources of heterogeneity.
RESULTS
Six original case-control studies of 216 PD patients and 175 healthy controls were analyzed. The pooled weighted mean difference (WMD) in the OB volume between the PD patients and the healthy participants was -8.071 for the right OB and -10.124 for the left OB; these values indicated a significant difference among PD patients compared with healthy controls. In addition, a significant difference in the lateralized OB volume was observed in PD patients, with a pooled WMD of 1.618; these results indicated a larger right OB volume than left OB volume in PD patients. In contrast, no difference in the lateralized OB volume was found in healthy controls. No statistical evidence of publication bias among studies was found based on Egger's or Begg's tests. Sensitivity analyses revealed that the results were consistent and robust.
CONCLUSIONS
Overall, both the left and the right OB volume were significantly smaller in PD patients than in healthy controls. However, significant heterogeneity and an insufficient number of studies underscore the need for further observational research.
Topics: Humans; Olfactory Bulb; Organ Size; Parkinson Disease
PubMed: 26900958
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0149286 -
Journal of Neurophysiology May 2009The adult mammalian olfactory bulb (OB) is unique in that olfactory sensory neurons project directly, without prior thalamic relay, to the OB. This review discusses... (Review)
Review
The adult mammalian olfactory bulb (OB) is unique in that olfactory sensory neurons project directly, without prior thalamic relay, to the OB. This review discusses evidence for the direct involvement of the OB in odor perception and its modulation by olfactory experience. We first discuss recent data showing that the OB exhibits a high level of plasticity in response to olfactory experience including exposure, enrichment, and learning. We next review evidence showing that, in return, experimental manipulation of the OB neural network changes how odorants are processed and perceived. We finally review in more detail a few experiments showing a tight correlation between the modulation of OB neural processing and odor perception. We argue that the OB has evolved to be an adapting network, allowing animals to adjust olfactory computations to changing environments.
Topics: Animals; Humans; Mammals; Models, Neurological; Nerve Net; Neuronal Plasticity; Odorants; Olfactory Bulb; Olfactory Perception
PubMed: 19261715
DOI: 10.1152/jn.00076.2009 -
Science (New York, N.Y.) May 2017It is commonly believed that humans have a poor sense of smell compared to other mammalian species. However, this idea derives not from empirical studies of human... (Review)
Review
It is commonly believed that humans have a poor sense of smell compared to other mammalian species. However, this idea derives not from empirical studies of human olfaction but from a famous 19th-century anatomist's hypothesis that the evolution of human free will required a reduction in the proportional size of the brain's olfactory bulb. The human olfactory bulb is actually quite large in absolute terms and contains a similar number of neurons to that of other mammals. Moreover, humans have excellent olfactory abilities. We can detect and discriminate an extraordinary range of odors, we are more sensitive than rodents and dogs for some odors, we are capable of tracking odor trails, and our behavioral and affective states are influenced by our sense of smell.
Topics: Animals; Humans; Mammals; Neurons; Olfactory Bulb; Olfactory Perception; Smell
PubMed: 28495701
DOI: 10.1126/science.aam7263