Odorant concentration dependence in electroolfactograms recorded from the human olfactory epithelium.
Electroolfactograms (EOGs) are the summated generator potentials of olfactory receptor neurons measured directly from the olfactory epithelium. To validate the sensory origin of the human EOG, we set out to ask whether EOGs measured in humans were odorant concentration dependent. Each of 22 subjects (12 women, mean age = 23.3 yr) was tested with two odorants, either valeric acid and linalool (n = 12) or isovaleric acid and l-carvone (n = 10), each delivered at four concentrations diluted with warm (37 degrees C) and humidified (80%) odorless air. In behavior, increased odorant concentration was associated with increased perceived intensity (all F > 5, all P < 0.001). In EOG, increased odorant concentration was associated with increased area under the EOG curve (all F > 8, all P < 0.001). These findings substantiate EOG as a tool for probing olfactory coding directly at the level of olfactory receptor neurons in humans.
Lapid
Hadas
H
1Departments of Neurobiology and 2Computer Science and Applied Mathematics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel. hadas.lapid@weizmann.ac.il
Seo
Han-Seok
HS
Schuster
Benno
B
Schneidman
Elad
E
Roth
Yehudah
Y
Harel
David
D
Sobel
Noam
N
Hummel
Thomas
T
D000080462:Acyclic Monoterpenes; D000465:Algorithms; D019540:Area Under Curve; D000081005:Cyclohexane Monoterpenes; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004568:Electrodiagnosis / Q000295:instrumentation*; D005071:Evoked Potentials; D005260:Female; D045782:Hemiterpenes; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D039821:Monoterpenes / Q000008:administration & dosage; D009812:Odorants; D009831:Olfactory Mucosa / Q000502:physiology*; D010421:Pentanoic Acids / Q000008:administration & dosage; D010812:Physical Stimulation; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D011601:Psychophysics; D012903:Smell / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
D000080462:Acyclic Monoterpenes; D000081005:Cyclohexane Monoterpenes; D045782:Hemiterpenes; D039821:Monoterpenes; D010421:Pentanoic Acids; C008216:isovaleric acid; C006923:carvone; C018584:linalool; C038780:n-pentanoic acid