Odour recognition and segmentation by a model olfactory bulb and cortex.
We present a model of an olfactory system that performs odour segmentation. Based on the anatomy and physiology of natural olfactory systems, it consists of a pair of coupled modules, bulb and cortex. The bulb encodes the odour inputs as oscillating patterns. The cortex functions as an associative memory: when the input from the bulb matches a pattern stored in the connections between its units, the cortical units resonate in an oscillatory pattern characteristic of that odour. Further circuitry transforms this oscillatory signal to a slowly varying feedback to the bulb. This feedback implements olfactory segmentation by suppressing the bulbar response to the pre-existing odour, thereby allowing subsequent odours to be singled out for recognition.
Li
Z
Z
Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit, UCL, London, UK. zhaoping@gatsby.ucl.ac.uk
Hertz
J
J
D000344:Afferent Pathways; D000818:Animals; D003198:Computer Simulation; D004193:Discrimination Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D005246:Feedback / Q000502:physiology; D008322:Mammals; D016571:Neural Networks, Computer; D009812:Odorants; D009830:Olfactory Bulb / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D009833:Olfactory Pathways / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D012903:Smell / Q000502:physiology*