title: Similar rate of information transfer on stimulus intensity in accessory and main olfactory bulb output neurons.
abstract: Recently, evidence has accumulated that the vomeronasal system cooperates with the main olfactory system to process volatile cues that regulate the animal's behavior. This is contradictory to the traditional view that the vomeronasal system is quite different from the main olfactory system in the time scale of information processing. Particularly, the firing rate of mitral/tufted cells in the accessory olfactory bulb (MTAOB) is known to be significantly lower than that of mitral cells in the main olfactory bulb (MCMOB). To address this question of whether the low-frequency firing in MTAOB carries less information than the high-frequency firing in MCMOB in the early stages of stimulation, we compared MTAOB and MCMOB for their firing mechanisms and information transfer characteristics. A model computation demonstrated that the inherent channel kinetics of MTAOB was responsible for their firing at a lower frequency than MCMOB. Nevertheless, our analysis suggested that MTAOB were comparable to MCMOB in both the amount and speed of information transfer about depolarizing current intensity immediately after current injection onset (<200ms). Our results support a hypothesis of simultaneous processing of common cues in both systems.
authors.affiliation: Department of Sensory Physiology, Asahikawa Medical University, Midorigaokahigashi 2-1-1-1, Asahikawa 078-8510, Japan. Electronic address: tnoguchi@asahikawa-med.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Tomohiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Noguchi
authors.affiliation: Department of Sensory Physiology, Asahikawa Medical University, Midorigaokahigashi 2-1-1-1, Asahikawa 078-8510, Japan. Electronic address: hits@asahikawa-med.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Hitoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sasajima
authors.affiliation: Department of Sensory Physiology, Asahikawa Medical University, Midorigaokahigashi 2-1-1-1, Asahikawa 078-8510, Japan. Electronic address: miyazono@asahikawa-med.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Sadaharu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Miyazono
authors.affiliation: Department of Sensory Physiology, Asahikawa Medical University, Midorigaokahigashi 2-1-1-1, Asahikawa 078-8510, Japan. Electronic address: yanagi@asahikawa-med.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Makoto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kashiwayanagi
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials; D000818:Animals; D003198:Computer Simulation; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D009830:Olfactory Bulb / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D024642:Potassium Channels, Voltage-Gated / Q000502:physiology*; D061566:Voltage-Gated Sodium Channels / Q000502:physiology*; D019147:Vomeronasal Organ / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D024642:Potassium Channels, Voltage-Gated; D061566:Voltage-Gated Sodium Channels
keywords: Accessory olfactory bulb; Action potential; Mutual information; Olfactory system; Patch clamp; Voltage-gated channel