Institute for Life Sciences and Interdisciplinary Center for Neural Computation, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel.
Neuroscience. 2011 Aug 25;189:51-67. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2011.05.039. Epub 2011 May 26.
Most mammals rely on semiochemicals, such as pheromones, to mediate their social interactions. Recent studies found that semiochemicals are perceived by at least two distinct chemosensory systems: the main and accessory olfactory systems, which share many molecular, cellular, and anatomical features. Nevertheless, the division of labor between these systems remained unclear. Previously we suggested that the two olfactory systems differ in the way they process sensory information. In this study we found that mitral cells of the main and accessory olfactory bulbs, the first brain stations of both systems, display markedly different passive and active intrinsic properties which permit distinct types of information processing. Moreover, we found that accessory olfactory bulb mitral cells are divided into three neuronal sub-populations with distinct firing properties. These neuronal sub-populations can be integrated in a simulated neuronal network that neglects episodic stimuli while amplifying reaction to long-lasting signals.
大多数哺乳动物依赖信息素（如外激素）来介导其社会互动。最近的研究发现，半化学物质至少通过两种不同的化学感觉系统来感知：主要嗅觉系统和辅助嗅觉系统，它们具有许多分子、细胞和解剖学特征。然而，这些系统之间的分工仍不清楚。此前我们提出，这两个嗅觉系统在处理感觉信息的方式上存在差异。在这项研究中，我们发现主要和辅助嗅球的僧帽细胞（这两个系统的第一个大脑站）表现出明显不同的被动和主动内在特性，从而允许进行不同类型的信息处理。此外，我们发现辅助嗅觉球的僧帽细胞可分为具有不同放电特性的三个神经元亚群。这些神经元亚群可以整合在一个模拟神经元网络中，该网络忽略了情景刺激，而增强了对持久信号的反应。
