Work

Noradrenergic but not cholinergic modulation of olfactory bulb during processing of near threshold concentration stimuli.

Year: 2012

Type: article

Abstract: Neuromodulatory systems such as noradrenaline (NE), acetylcholine (ACh), and serotonin (5HT) serve important functions in sensory perception. We use the olfactory bulb (OB) as a model system to study the roles of individual neuromodulators in sensory perception. Using a spontaneous, nonreward motivated detection task, as well as a reward-motivated task, we show that rats can easily respond to odorants at very low concentrations when motivated to do so in a food-rewarded task, despite not showing spontaneous responses to these low concentration odorants. Using the same tasks paired with local bulbar infusions of noradrenergic and cholinergic drugs, we then show that rats engage their noradrenergic, but not their cholinergic system, to better respond to near threshold odorants. These results suggest that while cholinergic modulation of OB function is mostly important for odor decorrelation and discrimination, noradrenergic modulation is important for signal-to-noise modulation.

Source: Behavioral Neuroscience

DOI: 10.1037/a0030006

Authors: Olga Escanilla, Sam Alperin, Monica Youssef, Matthew Ennis, Christiane Linster

Institutions: Cornell University, University of Tennessee Health Science Center

Language: English

Topic: Olfactory and Sensory Function Studies

Subfield: Sensory Systems

Field: Neuroscience

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders

Awards: CRCNS: Computational and experimental analysis of noradrenergic function in early, G1592511104, G5247084541, G690733085, G9000011559