en
Scientific article
Open access
English

Encoding Odorant Identity by Spiking Packets of Rate-Invariant Neurons in Awake Mice

Published inPloS one, vol. 7, no. 1, e30155
Publication date2012
Abstract

Background: How do neural networks encode sensory information? Following sensory stimulation, neural coding is commonly assumed to be based on neurons changing their firing rate. In contrast, both theoretical works and experiments in several sensory systems showed that neurons could encode information as coordinated cell assemblies by adjusting their spike timing and without changing their firing rate. Nevertheless, in the olfactory system, there is little experimental evidence supporting such model. Methodology/Principal Findings: To study these issues, we implanted tetrodes in the olfactory bulb of awake mice to record the odorant-evoked activity of mitral/tufted (M/T) cells. We showed that following odorant presentation, most M/T neurons do not significantly change their firing rate over a breathing cycle but rather respond to odorant stimulation by redistributing their firing activity within respiratory cycles. In addition, we showed that sensory information can be encoded by cell assemblies composed of such neurons, thus supporting the idea that coordinated populations of globally rateinvariant neurons could be efficiently used to convey information about the odorant identity. We showed that different coding schemes can convey high amount of odorant information for specific read-out time window. Finally we showed that the optimal readout time window corresponds to the duration of gamma oscillations cycles. Conclusion: We propose that odorant can be encoded by population of cells that exhibit fine temporal tuning of spiking activity while displaying weak or no firing rate change. These cell assemblies may transfer sensory information in spiking packets sequence using the gamma oscillations as a clock. This would allow the system to reach a tradeoff between rapid and accurate odorant discrimination.

Keywords
  • Tetrode recording
  • Olfaction
  • Neural coding
Funding
  • Swiss National Science Foundation - PP0033_119169, PP00P3_139189
  • European Commission - From neurons to behavior: analysis of the mechanisms underlying sensory coding and plasticity in chemical senses [243344]
Citation (ISO format)
GSCHWEND, Olivier, BEROUD, Jonathan, CARLETON, Alan. Encoding Odorant Identity by Spiking Packets of Rate-Invariant Neurons in Awake Mice. In: PloS one, 2012, vol. 7, n° 1, p. e30155. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0030155
Main files (1)
Article (Published version)
Identifiers
ISSN of the journal1932-6203
558views
236downloads

Technical informations

Creation09/29/2014 12:45:00 PM
First validation09/29/2014 12:45:00 PM
Update time03/14/2023 9:51:00 PM
Status update03/14/2023 9:51:00 PM
Last indexation02/12/2024 11:19:33 AM
All rights reserved by Archive ouverte UNIGE and the University of GenevaunigeBlack