title: Topographic organization of sensory projections to the olfactory bulb.
abstract: The detection of odorant receptor mRNAs within the axon terminals of sensory neurons has permitted us to ask whether neurons expressing a given receptor project their axons to common glomeruli within the olfactory bulb. In situ hybridization with five different receptor probes demonstrates that axons from neurons expressing a given receptor converge on one, or at most, a few glomeruli within the olfactory bulb. Moreover, the position of specific glomeruli is bilaterally symmetric and is constant in different individuals within a species. These data support a model in which exposure to a given odorant may result in the stimulation of a spatially restricted set of glomeruli, such that the individual odorants would be associated with specific topographic patterns of activity within the olfactory bulb.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, New York 10032.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vassar
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Chao
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sitcheran
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Nuñez
authors.forename: L B
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Vosshall
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Axel
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000473:pathology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D005260:Female; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D009475:Neurons, Afferent / Q000166:cytology*; D009812:Odorants; D009830:Olfactory Bulb / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D051842:Olfactory Marker Protein; D010465:Perception / Q000502:physiology; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D018035:Receptors, Odorant / Q000235:genetics*; D013569:Synapses
chemical_list: D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D051842:Olfactory Marker Protein; C497599:Omp protein, rat; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D018035:Receptors, Odorant