Mice can extract spatial information from temporal dynamics of the odour landscape
Tue-S4-004
Presented by: Tobias Ackels
The spatiotemporal dynamics of natural odour plumes shaped by airflow turbulence provide valuable cues about the location of odour sources. Recent experiments demonstrate that correlated odour intensity fluctuations arise when odours originate from the same source, while even a source separation of 50 cm results in uncorrelated odour profiles.
We here investigated further whether mice can utilize the spatial information carried by natural odour plumes for distance discrimination. Using a wind tunnel and innovative odour delivery devices, we generated and recorded odour plumes, and replicated them within an "olfactory virtual reality" system.
By examining the temporal characteristics of odour plumes generated in the wind tunnel, we propose that features operating at a frequency higher than the respiratory cycle of mice hold greater significance for the distance discrimination task compared to slower timescales, such as average concentration over a trial. Training mice in high-throughput behavioural conditioning tasks, we observed their ability to differentiate distances based on odour cues. Furthermore, by presenting odour plumes recorded at various distances in the virtual reality environment, we discovered that a subset of olfactory bulb projections neurons, Mitral and Tufted cells, exhibited differential responses corresponding to different distances. Notably, these responses were linked to the temporal features of odour plumes and showed correlations with sub-sniff temporal patterns.
Our findings highlight the mice's capability to extract and utilize complex temporal information from odour plumes for distance discrimination. On the cellular level, we shed light on the intricate mechanisms of olfactory source localization in olfactory bulb neurons. This study expands our understanding of olfactory perception and provides a foundation for further exploration in sensory neuroscience.
We here investigated further whether mice can utilize the spatial information carried by natural odour plumes for distance discrimination. Using a wind tunnel and innovative odour delivery devices, we generated and recorded odour plumes, and replicated them within an "olfactory virtual reality" system.
By examining the temporal characteristics of odour plumes generated in the wind tunnel, we propose that features operating at a frequency higher than the respiratory cycle of mice hold greater significance for the distance discrimination task compared to slower timescales, such as average concentration over a trial. Training mice in high-throughput behavioural conditioning tasks, we observed their ability to differentiate distances based on odour cues. Furthermore, by presenting odour plumes recorded at various distances in the virtual reality environment, we discovered that a subset of olfactory bulb projections neurons, Mitral and Tufted cells, exhibited differential responses corresponding to different distances. Notably, these responses were linked to the temporal features of odour plumes and showed correlations with sub-sniff temporal patterns.
Our findings highlight the mice's capability to extract and utilize complex temporal information from odour plumes for distance discrimination. On the cellular level, we shed light on the intricate mechanisms of olfactory source localization in olfactory bulb neurons. This study expands our understanding of olfactory perception and provides a foundation for further exploration in sensory neuroscience.