Spatial patterning and information coding in the olfactory system.

The ability of mammals to discriminate thousands of structurally diverse odorants appears to derive from the existence of a multigene family that encodes approximately 1000 different odorant receptors. Recent studies have used this family to explore how the olfactory system organizes sensory information. These studies reveal striking patterns of organization suggesting that incoming sensory information is first broadly organized in the nose and is then transformed in the olfactory bulb into a stereotyped and highly organized spatial map.