Sparse encoding of natural scents.
Natural scents are mixtures of tens to hundreds of individual chemical compounds. While previous studies have investigated how the olfactory bulb responds to simple odorants, how the nose and the brain respond to and interpret complex mixtures is less clear. In a paper in this issue of Neuron, Lin et al. combined gas chromatography and intrinsic signal imaging to examine the responses of individual olfactory bulb glomeruli in the mouse to natural odors and their component parts.
Dulac
Catherine
C
Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.
D000818:Animals; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D009812:Odorants; D009830:Olfactory Bulb / Q000502:physiology*; D012903:Smell / Q000502:physiology*