Synaptic Processing in the Olfactory System

项目摘要/摘要 在人类中，嗅觉对我们的生活质量有很大的贡献。气味是 唤起对过去事件的记忆和嗅觉的强烈线索在我们的生活中扮演着重要的角色 对味道的感知。然而，潜在的处理和编码的机制 大脑中的嗅觉信息尚不清楚。为了解决这个问题，我们研究了它的性质 啮齿动物嗅球内兴奋性神经元和抑制性神经元形成的神经元环路 嗅觉信息最初在大脑中编码的地方。我们还研究了 初级嗅觉(梨状)皮层的回路，嗅觉信息的下一个主要水平 是经过处理的。我们的长期目标是了解神经回路最终是如何引起 感官感知 提出的实验利用光学和电生理技术来 确定两个嗅球中已识别的神经元群体的反应特性 大脑皮层。具体目标1建议使用慢性活体双光子活动记录 来自清醒的头部固定的嗅球中已识别的主细胞和抑制性中间神经元 老鼠。我们将使用这种方法来确定联想学习如何改变气味 在表现良好的老鼠身上的表现。我们假设局部中间神经元起着重要作用。 与学习相关的嗅球活动的变化。具体目标2提议调查如何 特殊亚型的GABA能抑制中间神经元调节梨状皮质的气味编码。 我们结合了光遗传学、脑切片和活体电生理记录来揭示 不同的中间神经元类别控制皮层主体气味诱发活动的操作 这些实验将共同展示嗅球中的局部抑制性中间神经元 大脑皮层调节大脑中的感觉信息处理。

Project Summary/Abstract In humans, the sense of smell contributes significantly to our quality of life. Odors are strong cues for evoking memories of past events and olfaction plays an important role in our perception of flavor. However, the mechanisms underlying the processing and encoding of olfactory information in the brain are not clear. To address this question, we study the properties of neuronal circuits formed by excitatory and inhibitory neurons in the rodent olfactory bulb, a site where olfactory information is initially encoded in the brain. We also examine the properties of circuits in the primary olfactory (piriform) cortex, the next major level at which olfactory information is processed. Our long term goal is to understand how neural circuits ultimately give rise to sensory perception The experiments proposed employ optical and electrophysiological techniques to determine the response properties of identified neuronal populations in both the olfactory bulbs and cortex. Specific Aim 1 proposes the use of chronic, in vivo two-photon recording of activity from identified principal cells and inhibitory interneurons in the olfactory bulb of awake, head-fixed mice. We will use this approach to determine how associative learning modifies odor representations in behaving mice. We hypothesize that local interneurons play an important role in learning-related changes in olfactory bulb activity. Specific Aim 2 proposes to investigate how particular subtypes of GABAergic inhibitory interneurons modulate odor coding in piriform cortex. We combine optogenetics, brain slice and in vivo electrophysiological recordings to reveal the operations by which distinct interneuron classes govern odor-evoked activity of cortical principal cells.Together, these experiments will show how local inhibitory interneurons in the olfactory bulb and cortex regulate sensory information processing in the brain.