Locus coeruleus and processing of olfactory social cues

描述（由申请人提供）：“自下而上”的感官表征受到“自上而下”的影响，如行为状态和注意力。自从发现哺乳动物嗅觉的基本受体单位以来，哺乳动物的嗅觉一直是一个备受关注的主题，但人们对基于受体的编码机制如何与主嗅球（MOB）中的中枢反馈投影相互作用知之甚少。肾上腺素能蓝斑（LC）传递唤醒和注意的信息。去甲肾上腺素（NE）在几种嗅觉学习行为中起作用，并在体外对MOB回路有已知的影响。本研究将探讨LC输入如何塑造尿液挥发物携带的个人身份表征。实验将：1)观察清醒小鼠在社交嗅觉互动和学习过程中的LC活性；2)测试LC激活对MOB神经元气味反应和嗅觉感知的特定持久影响；3)确定这种嗅觉可塑性的细胞回路机制。这些研究将提供一个难得的机会来检验唤醒和注意对行为学相关感知的影响。它们也普遍与认知灵活性的机制和相关病理如注意缺陷多动障碍有关。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): 'Bottom up' sensory representations are shaped by 'top down1 influences, such as behavioral state and attention. Mammalian olfaction has been a subject of intense interest since the discovery of its fundamental receptor units, but little is known about how receptor-based coding mechanisms interact with central feedback projections in the main olfactory bulb (MOB). The adrenergic locus coeruleus (LC) transmits information about arousal and attention. Norepinephrine (NE) plays a role in several olfactory learning behaviors and has known effects on MOB circuitry in vitro. This study will investigate how LC input shapes representations of individual identity carried by urine volatiles. Experiments will: 1) observe LC activity in awake mice during social olfactory interaction and learning 2.) test the specific lasting effects of LC activation on odor responses of MOB neurons and olfactory perception 3.) determine the cellular circuit mechanisms of this olfactory plasticity. These studies will provide a rare opportunity to examine the effects of arousal and attention on ethologically relevant perception. They are also generally relevant to mechanisms of cognitive flexibility and related pathologies such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.