Smell

Olafactory epithelium

contains olafactory receptor cells, supporting cells, and basal cellls

Odorants bind to —>

receptor proteins on cilia of olafactory receptor cells

Individual olafactory receptor cells

broadly tuned, each cell responds to multiple odorants, encode odorant concentration

Olafactory receptor cells —>

project to olafactory bulb

Olafactory bulb

contain glomeruli, receptor cells expressing particular receptor gene converge on same glomeruli

Neurons in olafactory bulb (mitral cells)

show broad tuning, extract information from an ensemble of cells

Olafactory system

detects volatile substances in the environment, uses spike timing and spike rate code for information coding

Olafactory bulb projects to —>

several cortical areas, main target is piriform cortex

Basal cells

source of new olafactory receptor cells

Supporting cells

similar to glia, generate mucus

cAMP

enzyme activated that binds to cAMP gated cation channels leading to a Na+ and Ca2+ influx

Increased odorant concentration effects

increased response, curent flow in cilia increases, number of action potential increases, shorter latency of response

Individual foods can be characterized by —>

single or few odorant categories

Different odorants evoke —>

different neural activation patterns in the bulb