Document Detail


Rapid and precise control of sniffing during olfactory discrimination in rats.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  17460109     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
Olfactory perception relies on an active sampling process, sniffing, to rapidly deliver odorants from the environment to the olfactory receptors. The respiration cycle strongly patterns the flow of information into the olfactory systems, but the behavioral significance of particular sniffing patterns is not well understood. Here, we monitored the frequency and timing of nasal respiration in rats performing an odor-mixture-discrimination task that allowed us to test subjects near psychophysical limits and to quantify the precise timing of their behavior. We found that respiration frequencies varied widely from 2 to 12 Hz, but odor discrimination was dependent on 6- to 9-Hz sniffing: rats almost always entered and maintained this frequency band during odor sampling and their accuracy on difficult discrimination dropped when they did not. Moreover, the switch from baseline respiration to sniffing occurred not in response to odor delivery but in anticipation of odor sampling and was executed rapidly, almost always within a single cycle. Interestingly, rats also switched from respiration to rapid sniffing in anticipation of reward delivery, but in a distinct frequency band, 9-12 Hz. These results demonstrate the speed and precision of control over respiration and its significance for olfactory behavioral performance.
Authors:
Adam Kepecs; Naoshige Uchida; Zachary F Mainen
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Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article; Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't     Date:  2007-04-25
Journal Detail:
Title:  Journal of neurophysiology     Volume:  98     ISSN:  0022-3077     ISO Abbreviation:  J. Neurophysiol.     Publication Date:  2007 Jul 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2007-07-11     Completed Date:  2007-10-02     Revised Date:  -    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  0375404     Medline TA:  J Neurophysiol     Country:  United States    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  205-13     Citation Subset:  IM    
Affiliation:
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY 11724, USA. kepecs@cshl.edu
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Algorithms
Animals
Behavior, Animal
Choice Behavior / physiology
Discrimination (Psychology)*
Male
Models, Biological
Odors
Olfactory Pathways / physiology*
Psychophysics / methods
Rats
Rats, Sprague-Dawley
Respiration
Smell / physiology*
Spectrum Analysis

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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