Relationships Between Odor-Elicited Oscillations in the Salamander Olfactory Epithelium and Olfactory Bulb

Abstract

Oscillations in neuronal population activity, or the synchronous neuronal spiking that underlies them, are thought to play a functional role in sensory processing in the CNS. In the olfactory system, stimulus-induced oscillations are observed both in central processing areas and in the peripheral receptor epithelium. To examine the relationship between these peripheral and central oscillations, we recorded local field potentials simultaneously from the olfactory epithelium and olfactory bulb in tiger salamanders ( Ambystoma tigrinum). Stimulus-induced oscillations recorded at these two sites were matched in frequency and slowed concurrently over the time course of the response, suggesting that the oscillations share a common source or are modulated together. Both the power and duration of oscillations increased over a range of amyl acetate concentrations from 2.5 × 10−2 to 1 × 10−1 dilution of saturated vapor, but peak frequency was not affected. The frequency of the oscillation did vary with different odorant compounds in both olfactory epithelium and bulb (OE and OB): amyl acetate, ethyl fenchol and d-carvone elicited oscillations of significantly different frequencies, and there was no difference in OE and OB oscillation frequencies. No change in the power or frequency of OE oscillations was observed after sectioning the olfactory nerve, indicating that the OE oscillations have a peripheral source. Finally, application of 1.0 and 10 μM tetrodotoxin to the epithelium blocked OE oscillations in a dose-dependent and reversible manner, suggesting that peripheral olfactory oscillations are related to receptor neuron spiking.