Smelling excitement in the antennal lobe.
In the fly antennal lobe projection neurons receive odor information from olfactory sensory neurons and transmit it to higher brain centers. However, projection neurons respond differently to odors than sensory neurons, despite the fact that they appear to have one-to-one connectivity. Shang et al. (2007) now describe the existence of excitatory neurons within the antennal lobe that may account for some of these unexplained differences.
Leung
Benjamin
B
Department of Neurobiology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, 364 Plantation Street, Worcester, MA 01605, USA. benjamin.leung@umassmed.edu
Waddell
Scott
S
D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology; D004330:Drosophila / Q000502:physiology*; D009475:Neurons, Afferent / Q000502:physiology*; D009812:Odorants; D018034:Olfactory Receptor Neurons / Q000502:physiology; D012903:Smell