We have designed an approach for modeling olfactory pathways by which one can explore how the properties of individual receptors affect the information coding capacity of an entire system. The effect of receptor tuning breadth on system performance was explored explicitly. We presented model sensory arrays with sets of stimuli randomly and uniformly distributed in an "olfactory space". Arrays o...

Neural coding for olfactory sensory stimuli has been mapped near completion in the Drosophila first-order center, but little is known in the higher brain centers. Here, we report that the antenna lobe (AL) spatial map is transformed further in the calyx of the mushroom body (MB), an essential olfactory associated learning center, by stereotypic connections with projection neurons (PNs). We foun...

Animals detect odorous chemicals through specialized olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs) that transduce odorants into neural electrical signals. We identified a novel and evolutionarily conserved protein, cilia- and flagella-associated protein 69 (CFAP69), in mice that regulates olfactory transduction kinetics. In the olfactory epithelium, CFAP69 is enriched in OSN cilia, where olfactory transduct...

Olfactory perceptual learning is a relatively long-term, learned increase in perceptual acuity, and has been described in both humans and animals. Data from recent electrophysiological studies have indicated that olfactory perceptual learning may be correlated with changes in odorant receptive fields of neurons in the olfactory bulb and piriform cortex. These changes include enhanced representa...

Olfactory space has a higher dimensionality than does any other class of sensory stimuli, and the olfactory system receives input from an unusually large number of unique information channels. This suggests that aspects of olfactory processing may differ fundamentally from processing in other sensory modalities. This review summarizes current understanding of early events in olfactory processin...

Our understanding of the molecular and cellular organization of the Drosophila melanogaster olfactory system has increased dramatically in recent years. A large family of approximately 60 odorant receptors has been identified, and many of these receptors have been functionally characterized. The odor responses of olfactory receptor neurons have been characterized, and much has been learned abou...