Reports

Combinatorial Effects of Odorant Mixes in Olfactory Cortex

Zhihua Zou^* and Linda B. Buck

In mammals, each odorant is detected by a combination of different odorant receptors. Signals from different types of receptors are segregated in the nose and the olfactory bulb, but appear to be combined in individual neurons in the olfactory cortex. Here, we report that binary odorant mixes stimulate cortical neurons that are not stimulated by their individual component odorants. We propose that cortical neurons require combinations of receptor inputs for activation and that merging the receptor codes of two odorants provides novel combinations of receptor inputs that stimulate neurons beyond those activated by the single odorants. These findings may explain why odorant mixtures can elicit novel odor percepts in humans.

Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Division of Basic Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, 1100 Fairview Avenue North, Seattle, WA 98109, USA.

^* Present address: Department of Neuroscience and Cell Biology, The University of Texas Medical Branch, 301 University Boulevard, Galveston, TX 77555–0620, USA.

To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: lbuck{at}fhcrc.org

Read the Full Text

The Human Brain Distinguishes between Single Odorants and Binary Mixtures.

J. A. Boyle, J. Djordjevic, M. J. Olsson, J. N. Lundstrom, and M. Jones-Gotman (2008)
Cereb Cortex
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Synergistic Mixture Interactions in Detection of Perithreshold Odors by Humans.

T. Miyazawa, M. Gallagher, G. Preti, and P. M. Wise (2008)
Chem Senses 33, 363-369
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How Pleasant and Unpleasant Stimuli Combine in Different Brain Regions: Odor Mixtures.

F. Grabenhorst, E. T. Rolls, C. Margot, M. A. A. P. da Silva, and M. I. Velazco (2007)
J. Neurosci. 27, 13532-13540
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Processing of Odor Mixtures in the Drosophila Antennal Lobe Reveals both Global Inhibition and Glomerulus-Specific Interactions.

A. F. Silbering and C. G. Galizia (2007)
J. Neurosci. 27, 11966-11977
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Odorant Category Profile Selectivity of Olfactory Cortex Neurons.

I. Yoshida and K. Mori (2007)
J. Neurosci. 27, 9105-9114
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Adrenergic modulation of olfactory bulb circuitry affects odor discrimination.

W. Doucette, J. Milder, and D. Restrepo (2007)
Learn. Mem. 14, 539-547
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Phosphatidylcholine profile-mediated group recognition in catfish.

K. Matsumura, S. Matsunaga, and N. Fusetani (2007)
J. Exp. Biol. 210, 1992-1999
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Responses of Olfactory Forebrain Units to Amino Acids in the Channel Catfish.

A. A. Nikonov and J. Caprio (2007)
J Neurophysiol 97, 2490-2498
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Sparse and Selective Odor Coding by Mitral/Tufted Neurons in the Main Olfactory Bulb.

I. G. Davison and L. C. Katz (2007)
J. Neurosci. 27, 2091-2101
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Asymmetric Suppression of Components in Binary Aldehyde Mixtures: Behavioral Studies in the Laboratory Rat.

L. Sokolic, D. G. Laing, and I. S. McGregor (2007)
Chem Senses 32, 191-199
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Synaptic Integration of Olfactory Information in Mouse Anterior Olfactory Nucleus..

H. Lei, R. Mooney, and L. C. Katz (2006)
J. Neurosci. 26, 12023-12032
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Use of urea as a chemosensory cloaking molecule by a bony fish.

J. F. Barimo and P. J. Walsh (2006)
J. Exp. Biol. 209, 4254-4261
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From the Cover: Separate encoding of identity and similarity of complex familiar odors in piriform cortex.

M. Kadohisa and D. A. Wilson (2006)
PNAS 103, 15206-15211
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Highlights From The Literature.

(2006)
Physiology 21, 157-161
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