Robust odor coding via inhalation-coupled transient activity in the mammalian olfactory bulb

Kevin M. Cury & Naoshige Uchida

Neuron (2010), doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2010.09.040

Previewed by Schoppa N.E., “Spike timing improves olfactory capabilities in mammals”

We addressed the question of how olfactory bulb output neurons represent odor identity during exploratory sniffing behavior. While psychophysical experiments demonstrated that odors could be discriminated by a single sniff, how olfactory bulb neurons encoded information on this timescale had remained a mystery. By performing electrophysiological recordings in rats performing an odor discrimination task, we discovered that information about odor identity was maximally encoded within the temporal patterning of action potentials relative to inhalation onset. Critically, we proved that the temporal response patterns were correlated with behavioral reaction time on a trial-by-trial basis. This argued for a functional role of this coding scheme in guiding behavior. This study fundamentally advanced our understanding of the relevance of temporal patterning in sensory systems for determining behavior, and has been cited over 300 times.