Abstract
In the olfactory bulb, olfactory information is translated into ensemble representations by mitral/tufted cells, and these representations change dynamically in a context-dependent manner. In particular, odor representations in mitral/tufted cells display pattern separation during odor discrimination learning. Although granule cells provide major inhibitory input to mitral/tufted cells and play an important role in pattern separation and olfactory learning, the dynamics of odor responses in granule cells during odor discrimination learning remain largely unknown. Here, we studied odor responses in granule cells of the olfactory bulb using fiber photometry recordings in awake behaving mice. We found that odors evoked reliable, excitatory responses in the granule cell population. Intriguingly, during odor discrimination learning, odor responses in granule cells exhibited improved separation and contained information about odor value. In conclusion, we show that granule cells in the olfactory bulb display learning-related plasticity, suggesting that they may mediate pattern separation in mitral/tufted cells.
Highlights
Interpreting the dynamic environment precisely to facilitate appropriate behavior is crucial for animal survival
It is reported that VGAT is expressed in all GABAergic neurons (Vong et al, 2011) and the VGAT-Cre animal line has been used to study the activity of Granule cells (GCs) in the olfactory bulb (OB) (Fukunaga et al, 2014; Wienisch and Murthy, 2016)
We characterized the basic odor response properties of GCs and, tracked the long-term changes in population odor responses: we discovered that GC responses to pairs of odors display improved separation during a go/no go task
Summary
Interpreting the dynamic environment precisely to facilitate appropriate behavior is crucial for animal survival. To accomplish this complex task, sensory systems in the brain encode dynamic information in the activity of neuronal ensembles. Such representations in the sensory system form an important constituent of information processing in the brain (Andermann et al, 2010; Komiyama et al, 2010; Harvey et al, 2012; Huber et al, 2012; Kato et al, 2015). Previous studies have established that odor representations in OB output neurons (mitral/tufted cells, M/T cells) display improved pattern separation during active odor discrimination learning
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