Centrifugal Modulation in the Vertebrate Olfactory Epithelium

石楠湖0817785脊椎动物嗅上皮的离心调制大脑向感觉器官发送信号，以将注意力集中在任何给定时间最重要的刺激上，这取决于动物的行为背景或生理状态。虽然这种类型的活动已经在眼睛和耳朵中被描述，但它在鼻子或嗅觉器官中很少受到关注。Dr.Bethen和她的合作者的研究表明，末端神经，一种延伸在大脑和鼻子之间的神经，向嗅觉器官释放化学物质，改变其活动。具体来说，终末神经含有两种化学物质，促性腺激素释放激素（GnRH）和神经肽Y（NPY），它们会改变鼻子中嗅觉神经元的气味反应和兴奋性。这些影响似乎取决于动物的整体生理状况：GnRH更有可能在繁殖季节影响嗅觉受体神经元，而NPY？的影响仅限于饥饿的动物。这很有趣，因为在大脑的其他部分，GnRH的功能是控制生殖激素的释放，而NPY则参与控制食欲和饥饿。该项目将涉及解剖学，电生理学，分子和生物化学技术的结合，并有望揭示这些效应的具体程度，以及这些效应背后的细胞和分子变化。这项研究将有助于培训密歇根州立大学的学生和研究人员，并涉及与美国其他地区以及日本和瑞典的科学家的合作。

Heather L. Eisthen 0817785Centrifugal Modulation in the Vertebrate Olfactory EpitheliumThe brain sends signals to the sense organs to focus attention on the stimuli that are most important at any given time, depending on the animal's behavioral context or physiological state. Although this type of activity has been described in the eye and ear, it has received little attention in the nose, or olfactory organ. Research by Dr. Eisthen and her collaborators suggests that the terminal nerve, a nerve that extends between the brain and nose, releases chemicals into the olfactory organ that change its activity. Specifically, the terminal nerve contains two chemicals, gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) and neuropeptide Y (NPY), that change odorant responses and excitability of olfactory neurons in the nose. The effects appear to depend on the animal's overall physiological condition: GnRH is more likely to affect olfactory receptor neurons during the breeding season, and NPY?s effects are limited to hungry animals. This is interesting, because in other parts of the brain, GnRH functions to control release of hormones involved in reproduction, whereas NPY is involved in controlling appetite and hunger. The project will involve a combination of anatomical, electrophysiological, molecular, and biochemical techniques, and are expected to reveal how specific these effects are, as well as the cellular and molecular changes that underlie these effects. The research will contribute to the training of students and researchers at Michigan State University, and involves cooperation with scientists in other parts of the United States as well as in Japan and Sweden.