Configurational and nonconfigurational interactions between odorants in binary mixtures

Detection of odorants in odour mixtures among healthy people and patients with olfactory dysfunction

Target odorant detection in mixtures has been shown to become more difficult as the number of background odorants increases and falls below chance level in mixtures with 16 components. Our aim was to investigate target odorant detection in mixtures among healthy people and compare it between dysosmic patients and age- and gender-matched controls. Participants underwent extensive olfactory testing and performed two target odorant detection tasks. Eugenol ('clove') and phenylethanol (PEA, 'rose') were target odorants for all participants, whereas a third target was randomised. For each target odorant in task one (task two), there were four steps. Mixtures contained two (three) odorants in the first step and up to seven (eight) odorants in the fourth step. In each step, participants were asked to choose the sample with the target odorant from the three (two) jars presented. The study included 90 healthy people and 40 patients. As expected, probability of successful target odorant detection decreased as the number of odorants in the mixture increased. However, even when there were seven (eight) odorants in the mixture, around 50% (50%) of healthy people detected Eugenol and around 30% (40%) detected PEA. Furthermore, both distributions of successful target odorant detection differed from the expected binominal distribution of chance (p < 0.001). Patients performed worse at detecting Eugenol or PEA at each step than controls. Furthermore, there were significant positive correlations between task scores and olfactory function. In conclusion, target odorant detection is influenced by the target odorant, number of background odorants, and individual olfactory function.

Odour generalisation and detection dog training

Detection dogs are required to search for and alert to specific odours of interest, such as drugs, cadavers, disease markers and explosives. However, the odour released from different samples of the same target substance will vary for a number of reasons, including the production method, evaporation, degradation, or by being mixed with extraneous odours. Generalisation, the tendency to respond in the same manner to stimuli which are different - but similar to - a conditioned stimulus, is therefore a crucial requirement for working detection dogs. Odour is a complex modality which poses unique challenges in terms of reliably predicting generalisation, when compared with auditory or visual stimuli. The primary aim of this review is to explore recent advances in our understanding of generalisation and the factors that influence it, and to consider these in light of detection dog training methods currently used in the field. We identify potential risks associated with certain training practices, and highlight areas where research is lacking and which warrant further investigation.

Object-oriented olfaction: challenges for chemosensation and for chemosensory research

Many animal species use olfaction to extract information about objects in their environment. Yet, the specific molecular signature that any given object emits varies due to various factors. Here, we detail why such variability makes chemosensory-mediated object recognition such a hard problem, and we propose that a major function of the elaborate chemosensory network is to overcome it. We describe previous work addressing different elements of the problem and outline future research directions that we consider essential for a full understanding of object-oriented olfaction. In particular, we call for extensive representation of olfactory object variability in chemical, behavioral, and electrophysiological analyses. While written with an emphasis on macrosmatic mammalian species, our arguments apply to all organisms that employ chemosensation to navigate complex environments.

Testing effects of trigeminal stimulation on binary odor mixture quality in rats

Prior attempts at forming theoretical predictions regarding the quality of binary odor mixtures have failed to find any consistent predictor for overshadowing of one component in a binary mixture by the other. We test here the hypothesis that trigeminality contributes to overshadowing effects in binary mixture perception. Most odorants stimulate the trigeminal nerve in the nasal sensory epithelium. In the current study we test rats' ability to detect component odorants in four binary odor sets chosen for their relative trigeminality. We predicted that the difference in trigeminal intensity would predict the degree of overshadowing by boosting or suppressing perceptual intensity of these odorants during learning or during mixture perception. We used a two-alternative choice (TAC) task in which rats were trained to recognize the two components of each mixture and tested on a range of mixtures of the two without reinforcement. We found that even though odorant concentrations were adjusted to balance volatility, all odor sets produced asymmetric psychometric curves. Odor pairs with the greatest difference in trigeminality showed overshadowing by the odorant with weaker trigeminal properties. Odor sets with more evenly matched trigeminal properties also showed asymmetry that was not predicted by either small differences in volatility or trigeminality. Thus, trigeminal properties may influence overshadowing in odor mixtures, but other factors are also likely involved. These mixed results further support the need to test each odor mixture to determine its odor quality and underscore recent results at the level of olfactory receptor neurons that show massive and unpredictable inhibition among odorants in complex mixtures.

Neural pathways of olfactory kin imprinting and kin recognition in zebrafish

Teleost fish exhibit extraordinary cognitive skills that are comparable to those of mammals and birds. Kin recognition based on olfactory and visual imprinting requires neuronal circuits that were assumed to be necessarily dependent on the interaction of mammalian amygdala, hippocampus, and isocortex, the latter being a structure that teleost fish are lacking. We show that teleosts—beyond having a hippocampus and pallial amygdala homolog—also have subpallial amygdalar structures. In particular, we identify the medial amygdala and neural olfactory central circuits related to kin imprinting and kin recognition corresponding to an accessory olfactory system despite the absence of a separate vomeronasal organ.

Experience enhances certainty about olfactory stimuli under bulbar cholinergic control

We present evidence that experience and cholinergic modulation in an early sensory network interact to improve certainty about olfactory stimuli. The data we present are in agreement with existing theoretical ideas about the functional role of acetylcholine but highlight the importance of early sensory networks in addition to cortical networks. We use a simple behavioral paradigm in mice which allows us to measure certainty about a stimulus via the response amplitude to a condition and novel stimuli. We conclude that additional learning increases certainty and that the slope of this relationship can be modulated by activation of muscarinic cholinergic receptors in the olfactory bulb.

Exploring the Characteristics of an Aroma-Blending Mixture by Investigating the Network of Shared Odors and the Molecular Features of Their Related Odorants

The perception of aroma mixtures is based on interactions beginning at the peripheral olfactory system, but the process remains poorly understood. The perception of a mixture of ethyl isobutyrate (Et-iB, strawberry-like odor) and ethyl maltol (Et-M, caramel-like odor) was investigated previously in both human and animal studies. In those studies, the binary mixture of Et-iB and Et-M was found to be configurally processed. In humans, the mixture was judged as more typical of a pineapple odor, similar to allyl hexanoate (Al-H, pineapple-like odor), than the odors of the individual components. To explore the key features of this aroma blend, we developed an in silico approach based on molecules having at least one of the odors—strawberry, caramel or pineapple. A dataset of 293 molecules and their related odors was built. We applied the notion of a “social network” to describe the network of the odors. Additionally, we explored the structural properties of the molecules in this dataset. The network of the odors revealed peculiar links between odors, while the structural study emphasized key characteristics of the molecules. The association between “strawberry” and “caramel” notes, as well as the structural diversity of the “strawberry” molecules, were notable. Such elements would be key to identifying potential odors/odorants to form aroma blends.

Odors: from chemical structures to gaseous plumes

We are immersed within an odorous sea of chemical currents that we parse into individual odors with complex structures. Odors have been posited as determined by the structural relation between the molecules that compose the chemical compounds and their interactions with the receptor site. But, naturally occurring smells are parsed from gaseous odor plumes. To give a comprehensive account of the nature of odors the chemosciences must account for these large distributed entities as well. We offer a focused review of what is known about the perception of odor plumes for olfactory navigation and tracking, which we then connect to what is known about the role odorants play as properties of the plume in determining odor identity with respect to odor quality. We end by motivating our central claim that more research needs to be conducted on the role that odorants play within the odor plume in determining odor identity.

Eucalyptol Masks the Olfactory But Not the Trigeminal Sensation of Ammonia

Eucalyptol is a substance with rather pleasant olfactory and trigeminal characteristics and is thus suggested as an efficient tool for malodor coverage. In this study ammonia would be the malodor substance such as is found in cat litter or hair coloration. We investigated the potential of eucalyptol to inhibit both the olfactory as well as the trigeminal sensation of ammonia. For this purpose, we mixed eucalyptol and ammonia and compared odor component intensities. After being presented with either the pure odors or a binary mixture thereof, 21 young and healthy participants had to lateralize the odors and rate component (eucalyptol and ammonia) and total intensity. Analysis of intensity ratings revealed hypoadditivity (total mixture intensity was less than the sum of the total intensity of the single components). Significant interaction effects verified that mixing eucalyptol and ammonia only affected the perceived intensity of ammonia. Comparing the odor components within the pure and mixed stimuli, the ammonia component was rated as significantly less intense in the mixture compared to pure ammonia whereas the eucalyptol component was rated equal in the pure and mixed condition. On the basis of lateralization scores, we observed trigeminal mixture enhancement. We conclude that eucalyptol is a suitable masking agent to cover the unpleasant smell of ammonia; however, it fails to serve as an ammonia counterirritant because it lacks the ability to mask the trigeminal sensation of ammonia.

Olfactory Generalization in Detector Dogs

Generalizing to target odor variations while retaining specificity against non-targets is crucial to the success of detector dogs under working conditions. As such, the importance of generalization should be considered in the formulation of effective training strategies. Research investigating olfactory generalization from pure singular compounds to more complex odor mixtures helps to elucidate animals' olfactory generalization tendencies and inform ways to alter the generalization gradient by broadening or narrowing the range of stimuli to which dogs will respond. Olfactory generalization depends upon both intrinsic factors of the odors, such as concentration, as well as behavioral and cognitive factors related to training and previous experience. Based on the current research, some training factors may influence generalization. For example, using multiple target exemplars appears to be the most effective way to promote elemental processing and broaden the generalization gradient, whereas increasing the number of training instances with fewer exemplars can narrow the gradient, thereby increasing discrimination. Overall, this research area requires further attention and study to increase our understanding of olfactory generalization in dogs, particularly detector dogs, to improve training and detection outcomes.

Odor mixture training enhances dogs' olfactory detection of Home-Made Explosive precursors

Complex odor mixtures have traditionally been thought to be perceived configurally, implying that there is little identification of the individual components in the mixture. Prior research has suggested that the chemical and or perceptual similarity of components in a mixture may influence whether they can be detected individually; however, how experience and training influence the ability to identify individual components in complex mixtures (a figure-background segregation) is less clear. Figure-background segregation is a critical task for dogs tasked with discriminating between Home Made Explosives and very similar, but innocuous, complex odor mixtures. In a cross-over experimental design, we evaluated the effect of two training procedures on dogs' ability to identify the presence of a critical oxidizer in complex odor mixtures. In the Mixture training procedure, dogs received odor mixtures that varied from trial to trial with and without an oxidizer. In the more typical procedure for canine detection training, dogs were presented with the pure oxidizer only, and had to discriminate this from decoy mixtures (target-only training). Mixture training led to above chance discrimination of the oxidizer from variable backgrounds and dogs were able to readily generalize performance, with no decrement, to mixtures containing novel odorants. Target-only training, however, led to a precipitous drop in hit rate when the oxidizer was presented in a mixture background containing either familiar and/or novel odorants. Furthermore, by giving Target-only trained dogs Mixture training, they learned to identify the oxidizer in mixtures. Together, these results demonstrate that training method has significant impacts on the perception of components in odor mixtures and highlights the importance of olfactory learning for the effective detection of Home Made Explosives by dogs.

Olfactory Sensitivity in Mammalian Species

Olfaction enables most mammalian species to detect and discriminate vast numbers of chemical structures called odorants and pheromones. The perception of such chemical compounds is mediated via two major olfactory systems, the main olfactory system and the vomeronasal system, as well as minor systems, such as the septal organ and the Grueneberg ganglion. Distinct differences exist not only among species but also among individuals in terms of their olfactory sensitivity; however, little is known about the mechanisms that determine these differences. In research on the olfactory sensitivity of mammals, scientists thus depend in most cases on behavioral testing. In this article, we reviewed scientific studies performed on various mammalian species using different methodologies and target chemical substances. Human and non-human primates as well as rodents and dogs are the most frequently studied species. Olfactory threshold studies on other species do not exist with the exception of domestic pigs. Olfactory testing performed on seals, elephants, and bats focused more on discriminative abilities than on sensitivity. An overview of olfactory sensitivity studies as well as olfactory detection ability in most studied mammalian species is presented here, focusing on comparable olfactory detection thresholds. The basics of olfactory perception and olfactory sensitivity factors are also described.

Neonatal representation of odour objects: distinct memories of the whole and its parts

Extraction of relevant information from highly complex environments is a prerequisite to survival. Within odour mixtures, such information is contained in the odours of specific elements or in the mixture configuration perceived as a whole unique odour. For instance, an AB mixture of the element A (ethyl isobutyrate) and the element B (ethyl maltol) generates a configural AB percept in humans and apparently in another species, the rabbit. Here, we examined whether the memory of such a configuration is distinct from the memory of the individual odorants. Taking advantage of the newborn rabbit's ability to learn odour mixtures, we combined behavioural and pharmacological tools to specifically eliminate elemental memory of A and B after conditioning to the AB mixture and evaluate consequences on configural memory of AB. The amnesic treatment suppressed responsiveness to A and B but not to AB. Two other experiments confirmed the specific perception and particular memory of the AB mixture. These data demonstrate the existence of configurations in certain odour mixtures and their representation as unique objects: after learning, animals form a configural memory of these mixtures, which coexists with, but is relatively dissociated from, memory of their elements. This capability emerges very early in life.

An olfactory cocktail party: figure-ground segregation of odorants in rodents

In odorant-rich environments, animals must be able to detect specific odorants of interest against variable backgrounds. However, several studies have suggested that both humans and rodents are very poor at analyzing the components of odorant mixtures, leading to the idea that olfaction is a synthetic sense in which mixtures are perceived holistically. We have developed a behavioral task to directly measure the ability of mice to perceive mixture components and found that mice can be easily trained to detect target odorants embedded in unpredictable and variable mixtures. We imaged the responses of olfactory bulb glomeruli to the individual odors used in the task in mice expressing the Ca⁺⁺ indicator GCaMP3 in olfactory receptor neurons. By relating behavioral performance to the glomerular response patterns, we found that the difficulty of segregating the target from the background was strongly dependent on the extent of overlap between the representations of the target and the background odors by olfactory receptors. Our study indicates that the olfactory system has powerful analytic abilities that are constrained by the limits of combinatorial neural representation of odorants at the level of the olfactory receptors.

Differential memory persistence of odor mixture and components in newborn rabbits: competition between the whole and its parts

Interacting with the mother during the daily nursing, newborn rabbits experience her body odor cues. In particular, the mammary pheromone (MP) contained in rabbit milk triggers the typical behavior which helps to localize and seize the nipples. It also promotes the very rapid appetitive learning of simple or complex stimuli (odorants or mixtures) through associative conditioning. We previously showed that 24 h after MP-induced conditioning to odorants A (ethyl isobutyrate) or B (ethyl maltol), newborn rabbits perceive the AB mixture in a weak configural way, i.e., they perceive the odor of the AB configuration in addition to the odors of the elements. Moreover, after conditioning to the mixture, elimination of the memories of A and B does not affect the memory of AB, suggesting independent elemental and configural memories of the mixture. Here, we evaluated whether configural memory persistence differs from elemental one. First, whereas 1 or 3-day-old pups conditioned to A or B maintained their responsiveness to the conditioned odorant for 4 days, those conditioned to AB did not respond to the mixture after the same retention period. Second, the pups conditioned to AB still responded to A and B 4 days after conditioning, which indicates stronger retention of the elements than of the configuration when all information are learned together. Third, we determined whether the memory of the elements competes with the memory of the configuration: after conditioning to AB, when the memories of A and B were erased using pharmacological treatment, the memory of the mixture was extended to day 5. Thus, newborn rabbits have access to both elemental and configural information in certain odor mixtures, and competition between these distinct representations of the mixture influences the persistence of their memories. Such effects certainly occur in the natural context of mother-pup interactions and may contribute to early acquisition of knowledge about the surroundings.

The perception of odor objects in everyday life: a review on the processing of odor mixtures

Smelling monomolecular odors hardly ever occurs in everyday life, and the daily functioning of the sense of smell relies primarily on the processing of complex mixtures of volatiles that are present in the environment (e.g., emanating from food or conspecifics). Such processing allows for the instantaneous recognition and categorization of smells and also for the discrimination of odors among others to extract relevant information and to adapt efficiently in different contexts. The neurophysiological mechanisms underpinning this highly efficient analysis of complex mixtures of odorants is beginning to be unraveled and support the idea that olfaction, as vision and audition, relies on odor-objects encoding. This configural processing of odor mixtures, which is empirically subject to important applications in our societies (e.g., the art of perfumers, flavorists, and wine makers), has been scientifically studied only during the last decades. This processing depends on many individual factors, among which are the developmental stage, lifestyle, physiological and mood state, and cognitive skills; this processing also presents striking similarities between species. The present review gathers the recent findings, as observed in animals, healthy subjects, and/or individuals with affective disorders, supporting the perception of complex odor stimuli as odor objects. It also discusses peripheral to central processing, and cognitive and behavioral significance. Finally, this review highlights that the study of odor mixtures is an original window allowing for the investigation of daily olfaction and emphasizes the need for knowledge about the underlying biological processes, which appear to be crucial for our representation and adaptation to the chemical environment.

Neuronal computations in the olfactory system of zebrafish

The main olfactory system encodes information about molecules in a combinatorial fashion by distributed spatiotemporal activity patterns. As activity propagates from sensory neurons to the olfactory bulb and to higher brain areas, odor information is processed by multiple transformations of these activity patterns. This review discusses neuronal computations associated with such transformations in the olfactory system of zebrafish, a small vertebrate that offers advantages for the quantitative analysis and manipulation of neuronal activity in the intact brain. The review focuses on pattern decorrelation in the olfactory bulb and on the readout of multiplexed sensory representations in the telencephalic area Dp, the homolog of the olfactory cortex. These computations are difficult to study in larger species and may provide insights into general information-processing strategies in the brain.

Mixture and odorant processing in the olfactory systems of insects: a comparative perspective

Natural olfactory stimuli are often complex mixtures of volatiles, of which the identities and ratios of constituents are important for odor-mediated behaviors. Despite this importance, the mechanism by which the olfactory system processes this complex information remains an area of active study. In this review, we describe recent progress in how odorants and mixtures are processed in the brain of insects. We use a comparative approach toward contrasting olfactory coding and the behavioral efficacy of mixtures in different insect species, and organize these topics around four sections: (1) Examples of the behavioral efficacy of odor mixtures and the olfactory environment; (2) mixture processing in the periphery; (3) mixture coding in the antennal lobe; and (4) evolutionary implications and adaptations for olfactory processing. We also include pertinent background information about the processing of individual odorants and comparative differences in wiring and anatomy, as these topics have been richly investigated and inform the processing of mixtures in the insect olfactory system. Finally, we describe exciting studies that have begun to elucidate the role of the processing of complex olfactory information in evolution and speciation.

Neural coding of binary mixtures in a structurally related odorant pair

The encoding of odorant mixtures by olfactory sensory neurons depends on molecular interactions at peripheral receptors. However, the pharmacological basis of these interactions is not well defined. Both competitive and noncompetitive mechanisms of receptor binding and activation, or suppression, could contribute to coding. We studied this by analyzing responses of olfactory bulb glomeruli evoked by a pair of structurally related odorants, eugenol (EG) and methyl isoeugenol (MIEG). Fluorescence imaging in synaptopHluorin (spH) mice revealed that EG and MIEG evoked highly overlapped glomerular inputs, increasing the likelihood of mixture interactions. Glomerular responses to binary mixtures of EG and MIEG mostly showed hypoadditive interactions at intermediate and high odorant concentrations, with a few near threshold responses showing hyperadditivity. Dose-response profiles were well fitted by a model of two odorants competitively binding and activating a shared receptor linked to a non-linear transduction cascade. We saw no evidence of non-competitive mechanisms.

Verification of aroma profiles of Jiashi muskmelon juice characterized by odor activity value and gas chromatography-olfactometry/detection frequency analysis: aroma reconstitution experiments and omission tests

To verify the aroma profile of Jiashi muskmelon previously identified by gas chromatography-olfactometry/detection frequency analysis (GC-O/DFA) and odor activity value (OAV) calculation, the synthetic blends of odorants (aroma models) were prepared and then were compared with the original Jiashi muskmelon juice aroma using quantitative descriptive analysis (QDA) and electronic nose analysis (ENA), respectively. QDA and ENA both indicated that the model solution derived from OAV calculation more closely resembled the original melon juice aroma than that based on DFA data. Omission tests corroborated the significant contribution of five unsaturated aldehydes and alcohols with nine carbon atoms as well as five branched esters, in particular, the "fruity"-smelling ethyl butanoate and the "cucumber-like" (2E,6Z)-nona-2,6-dienal to Jiashi muskmelon overall aroma.

Interactions of odorants with olfactory receptors and receptor neurons match the perceptual dynamics observed for woody and fruity odorant mixtures

The present study aimed to create a direct bridge between observations on peripheral and central responses to odorant mixtures and their components. Three experiments were performed using mixtures of fruity (isoamyl acetate; ISO) and woody (whiskey lactone; WL) odorants known to contribute to some of the major notes in Burgundy red wine. These experiments consisted of (i) calcium imaging of human embryonic kidney cells (HEK293T) transfected with olfactory receptors (ORs); (ii) single-unit electrophysiological recordings from olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs) and analyses of electro-olfactogram (EOG) responses in the rat nose in vivo; and (iii) psychophysical measurements of the perceived intensity of the mixtures as rated by human subjects. The calcium imaging and electrophysiological results revealed that ISO and WL can act simultaneously on single ORs or ORNs and confirm that receptor responses to mixtures are not the result of a simple sum of the effects of the individual mixture compounds. The addition of WL to ISO principally suppressed the ORN activation induced by ISO alone and was found to enhance this activation in a subset of cases. In the human studies, the addition of high concentrations of WL to ISO decreased the perceived intensity of the ISO. In contrast, the addition of low concentrations of WL enhanced the perceived intensity of the fruity note (ISO) in this mixture, as it enhanced EOG responses in ORNs. Thus, both OR and ORN responses to ISO + WL mixtures faithfully reflected perceptual response changes, so the odour mixture information is set up after the peripheral stage of the olfactory system.

Analytical processing of binary mixture information by olfactory bulb glomeruli

Odors are rarely composed of a single compound, but rather contain a large and complex variety of chemical components. Often, these mixtures are perceived as having unique qualities that can be quite different than the combination of their components. In many cases, a majority of the components of a mixture cannot be individually identified. This synthetic processing of odor information suggests that individual component representations of the mixture must interact somewhere along the olfactory pathway. The anatomical nature of sensory neuron input into segregated glomeruli with the bulb suggests that initial input of odor information into the bulb is analytic. However, a large network of interneurons within the olfactory bulb could allow for mixture interactions via mechanisms such as lateral inhibition. Currently in mammals, it is unclear if postsynaptic mitral/tufted cell glomerular mixture responses reflect the analytical mixture input, or provide the initial basis for synthetic processing with the olfactory system. To address this, olfactory bulb glomerular binary mixture representations were compared to representations of each component using transgenic mice expressing the calcium indicator G-CaMP2 in olfactory bulb mitral/tufted cells. Overall, dorsal surface mixture representations showed little mixture interaction and often appeared as a simple combination of the component representations. Based on this, it is concluded that dorsal surface glomerular mixture representations remain largely analytical with nearly all component information preserved.

Olfactory discrimination of complex mixtures of amino acids by the black bullhead Ameiurus melas

On the basis of previous findings of behavioural discrimination of amino acids and on the knowledge of electrophysiology of the catfish (genera Ictalurus and Ameiurus) olfactory organs, behavioural experiments that investigated olfactory discrimination of amino acid mixtures were carried out on the black bullhead Ameiurus melas. Repeated presentations of food-rewarded mixtures released increased swimming activity measured by counting the number of turns >90° within 90 s of stimulus addition. Non-rewarded amino acids and their mixtures released little swimming activity, indicating that A. melas discriminated between the conditioned and the non-conditioned stimuli. Two questions of mixture discrimination were addressed: (1) Are A. melas able to detect components within simple and complex amino acid mixtures? (2) What are the smallest differences between two complex mixtures that A. melas can detect? Three and 13 component mixtures tested were composed primarily of equipotent amino acids [determined by equal electroolfactogram (EOG) amplitude] that contained L-Cys at ×100 the equipotent concentration. Ameiurus melas initially perceived the ternary amino acid mixture as its more stimulatory component alone [i.e. cysteine (Cys)], whereas the conditioned 13 component mixture containing the more stimulatory L-Cys was perceived immediately as different from L-Cys alone. The results indicate that components of ternary mixtures are detectable by A. melas but not those of more complex mixtures. To test for the smallest detectable differences in composition between similar multimixtures, all mixture components were equipotent. Initially, A. melas were unable to discriminate the mixtures of six amino acids from the conditioned mixtures of seven amino acids, whereas they discriminated immediately the mixtures of four and five amino acids from the conditioned mixture. Experience with dissimilar mixtures enabled the A. melas to start discriminating the seven-component conditioned mixture from its six-component counterparts. After fewer than five training trials, A. melas discriminated the mixtures of nine and 10 amino acids from a conditioned mixture of 12 equipotent amino acids; however, irrespective of the number of training trials, A. melas were unable to discriminate the 12 component mixture from its 11 component counterparts.

The predatory mite Phytoseiulus persimilis does not perceive odor mixtures as strictly elemental objects

Phytoseiulus persimilis is a predatory mite that in absence of vision relies on the detection of herbivore-induced plant odors to locate its prey, the two-spotted spider-mite Tetranychus urticae. This herbivorous prey is feeding on leaves of a wide variety of plant species in different families. The predatory mites respond to numerous structurally different compounds. However, typical spider-mite induced plant compounds do not attract more predatory mites than plant compounds not associated with prey. Because the mites are sensitive to many compounds, components of odor mixtures may affect each other’s perception. Although the response to pure compounds has been well documented, little is known how interactions among compounds affect the response to odor mixtures. We assessed the relation between the mites’ responses elicited by simple mixtures of two compounds and by the single components of these mixtures. The preference for the mixture was compared to predictions under three conceptual models, each based on one of the following assumptions: (1) the responses elicited by each of the individual components can be added to each other; (2) they can be averaged; or (3) one response overshadows the other. The observed response differed significantly from the response predicted under the additive response, average response, and overshadowing response model in 52, 36, and 32% of the experimental tests, respectively. Moreover, the behavioral responses elicited by individual compounds and their binary mixtures were determined as a function of the odor concentration. The relative contribution of each component to the behavioral response elicited by the mixture varied with the odor concentration, even though the ratio of both compounds in the mixture was kept constant. Our experiments revealed that compounds that elicited no response had an effect on the response elicited by binary mixtures that they were part of. The results are not consistent with the hypothesis that P. persimilis perceives odor mixtures as a collection of strictly elemental objects. They suggest that odor mixtures rather are perceived as one synthetic whole.

Functional roles of distributed synaptic clusters in the mitral-granule cell network of the olfactory bulb

Odors are encoded in spatio-temporal patterns within the olfactory bulb, but the mechanisms of odor recognition and discrimination are poorly understood. It is reasonable to postulate that the olfactory code is sculpted by lateral and feedforward inhibition mediated by granule cells onto the mitral cells. Recent viral tracing and physiological studies revealed patterns of distributed granule cell synaptic clusters that provided additional clues to the possible mechanisms at the network level. The emerging properties and functional roles of these patterns, however, are unknown. Here, using a realistic model of 5 mitral and 100 granule cells we show how their synaptic network can dynamically self-organize and interact through an activity-dependent dendrodendritic mechanism. The results suggest that the patterns of distributed mitral–granule cell connectivity may represent the most recent history of odor inputs, and may contribute to the basic processes underlying mixture perception and odor qualities. The model predicts how and why the dynamical interactions between the active mitral cells through the granule cell synaptic clusters can account for a variety of puzzling behavioral results on odor mixtures and on the emergence of synthetic or analytic perception.

Olfactory pattern classification by discrete neuronal network states

The categorial nature of sensory, cognitive and behavioural acts indicates that the brain classifies neuronal activity patterns into discrete representations. Pattern classification may be achieved by abrupt switching between discrete activity states of neuronal circuits, but few experimental studies have directly tested this. We gradually varied the concentration or molecular identity of odours and optically measured responses across output neurons of the olfactory bulb in zebrafish. Whereas population activity patterns were largely insensitive to changes in odour concentration, morphing of one odour into another resulted in abrupt transitions between odour representations. These transitions were mediated by coordinated response changes among small neuronal ensembles rather than by shifts in the global network state. The olfactory bulb therefore classifies odour-evoked input patterns into many discrete and defined output patterns, as proposed by attractor models. This computation is consistent with perceptual phenomena and may represent a general information processing strategy in the brain.

Functional roles of distributed synaptic clusters in the mitral-granule cell network of the olfactory bulb

Odors are encoded in spatio-temporal patterns within the olfactory bulb, but the mechanisms of odor recognition and discrimination are poorly understood. It is reasonable to postulate that the olfactory code is sculpted by lateral and feedforward inhibition mediated by granule cells onto the mitral cells. Recent viral tracing and physiological studies revealed patterns of distributed granule cell synaptic clusters that provided additional clues to the possible mechanisms at the network level. The emerging properties and functional roles of these patterns, however, are unknown. Here, using a realistic model of 5 mitral and 100 granule cells we show how their synaptic network can dynamically self-organize and interact through an activity-dependent dendrodendritic mechanism. The results suggest that the patterns of distributed mitral-granule cell connectivity may represent the most recent history of odor inputs, and may contribute to the basic processes underlying mixture perception and odor qualities. The model predicts how and why the dynamical interactions between the active mitral cells through the granule cell synaptic clusters can account for a variety of puzzling behavioral results on odor mixtures and on the emergence of synthetic or analytic perception.

Representations of odor in the piriform cortex

Olfactory perception is initiated by the recognition of odorants by a large repertoire of receptors in the sensory epithelium. A dispersed pattern of neural activity in the nose is converted into a segregated map in the olfactory bulb. How is this representation transformed at the next processing center for olfactory information, the piriform cortex? Optical imaging of odorant responses in the cortex reveals that the piriform discards spatial segregation as well as chemotopy and returns to a highly distributed organization in which different odorants activate unique but dispersed ensembles of cortical neurons. Neurons in piriform cortex, responsive to a given odorant, are not only distributed without apparent spatial preference but exhibit discontinuous receptive fields. This representation suggests organizational principles that differ from those in neocortical sensory areas where cells responsive to similar stimulus features are clustered and response properties vary smoothly across the cortex.

Processing of odor representations by neuronal circuits in the olfactory bulb

In order to analyze neuronal computations in the first olfactory processing center, the olfactory bulb, we measured odor-evoked activity patterns across large numbers of neurons within the intact olfactory bulb of zebrafish using optical and electrophysiological methods. We found that the olfactory bulb performs multiple computations including a decorrelation of overlapping inputs, a multiplexing of complementary information, and gain control. Patterns of olfactory bulb output activity are reorganized during the initial phase of an odor response, resulting in a partial loss of the topographic representation of molecular features and in the decorrelation of activity patterns evoked by similar stimuli. Physiological, pharmacological, and computational results provide initial insights into the mechanisms underlying these computations.

Elemental and configural processing of odour mixtures in the newborn rabbit

The processing of odour mixtures by young organisms is poorly understood. Recently, the perception of an AB mixture, known to engage configural perception in adult humans, was suggested also to be partially configural in newborn rabbits. In particular, pups did not respond to AB after they had learned A or B. However, two alternative hypotheses might be suggested to explain this result: the presence in the mixture of a novel odorant that inhibits the response to the learned stimulus, and the unevenness of the sensory and cognitive processes engaged during the conditioning and the behavioural testing. We conducted four experiments to explore these alternative hypotheses. In experiment 1, the learning of A or B ended in responses to mixtures including a novel odorant (AC or BC). Experiment 2 pointed to the absence of overshadowing. Therefore, a novelty effect cannot explain the non-response to AB after the learning of A or B. In experiment 3,pups having learned A or B in AC or BC did not respond to AB. However, they generalized odour information acquired in AB to AC or BC in experiment 4. Thus, the balancing of the perceptual tasks between the conditioning and retention test does not enhance the response to the AB mixture. To sum up, the present experiments give concrete support to the partially configural perception of specific odour mixtures by newborn rabbits.

Discrimination of "odorless" mineral oils alone and as diluents by behaviorally trained mice

Odorant diluents are generally chosen because of their odorless qualities, allowing them to dilute a target odorant without otherwise altering its perception. Unpublished observations from our laboratory, however, suggest that mineral oil (MO), a common diluent for oil-based odorants, may possess a distinct odor when used in the behavioral testing of mice. To test this, mice were trained to discriminate between 4 brands of MO, using a commercial, liquid-dilution olfactometer and a 2-odorant discrimination task. The results demonstrate that mice were able to detect MOs and to discriminate between MO pairs obtained from different sources. Additionally, we sought to determine if mice could discriminate different MOs when used as a diluent for suprathreshold levels of cineole. Mice were required to discriminate between bottles containing identical concentrations of cineole diluted in different brands of MO. The results showed that the mice readily discriminated each cineole/MO pairing. These data demonstrate that mice are able to detect and discriminate MOs obtained from different sources, both when presented alone and in mixtures. The results also indicate that MO is not an odorless diluent and should be used with caution in olfactory experiments, as the perception of odors being diluted may be unintentionally altered.

Explicit logic circuits discriminate neural states

The magnitude and apparent complexity of the brain's connectivity have left explicit networks largely unexplored. As a result, the relationship between the organization of synaptic connections and how the brain processes information is poorly understood. A recently proposed retinal network that produces neural correlates of color vision is refined and extended here to a family of general logic circuits. For any combination of high and low activity in any set of neurons, one of the logic circuits can receive input from the neurons and activate a single output neuron whenever the input neurons have the given activity state. The strength of the output neuron's response is a measure of the difference between the smallest of the high inputs and the largest of the low inputs. The networks generate correlates of known psychophysical phenomena. These results follow directly from the most cost-effective architectures for specific logic circuits and the minimal cellular capabilities of excitation and inhibition. The networks function dynamically, making their operation consistent with the speed of most brain functions. The networks show that well-known psychophysical phenomena do not require extraordinarily complex brain structures, and that a single network architecture can produce apparently disparate phenomena in different sensory systems.

Central processing of natural odor mixtures in insects

In nature, virtually all olfactory stimuli are mixtures of many single odorants. Behavioral experiments repeatedly have demonstrated that an animal's olfactory system is capable of discriminating behaviorally relevant from irrelevant odor mixtures. However, the sensory mechanisms that underlie such discriminative capability remain elusive. The limited anatomical and physiological evidence collected from both insect and vertebrate models that pertains to this topic is scattered in the literature dating back to early 1980s. Thus, a synthesis of this information that includes more recent findings is needed in order to provide a basis for probing the fundamental question from a new angle. In this review, we discuss several proposed models for mixture processing, along with experimental data gathered from both the initial stage of olfactory processing (i.e., antennal lobe in insects or olfactory bulb in vertebrates) and higher areas of the brain, with an emphasis on how the lateral circuits in the antennal lobe or olfactory bulb may contribute to mixture processing. Based on empirical data as well as theoretical modeling, we conclude that odor mixtures may be represented both at the single-neuron level and at the population level. The difference between these two types of processing may reside in the degree of plasticity, with the former being hard-wired and the latter being more subjected to network modulation.

Competitive and noncompetitive odorant interactions in the early neural coding of odorant mixtures

Most olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs) express a single type of olfactory receptor that is differentially sensitive to a wide variety of odorant molecules. The diversity of possible odorant-receptor interactions raises challenging problems for the coding of complex mixtures of many odorants, which make up the vast majority of real world odors. Pure competition, the simplest kind of interaction, arises when two or more agonists can bind to the main receptor site, which triggers receptor activation, although only one can be bound at a time. Noncompetitive effects may result from various mechanisms, including agonist binding to another site, which modifies the receptor properties at the main binding site. Here, we investigated the electrophysiological responses of rat ORNs in vivo to odorant agonists and their binary mixtures and interpreted them in the framework of a quantitative model of competitive interaction between odorants. We found that this model accounts for all concentration-response curves obtained with single odorants and for about half of those obtained with binary mixtures. In the other half, the shifts of curves along the concentration axis and the changes of maximal responses with respect to model predictions, indicate that noncompetitive interactions occur and can modulate olfactory receptors. We conclude that, because of their high frequency, the noncompetitive interactions play a major role in the neural coding of natural odorant mixtures. This finding implies that the CNS activity caused by mixtures will not be easily analyzed into components, and that mixture responses will be difficult to generalize across concentration.

Odor-reward learning and enrichment have similar effects on odor perception

We compared the respective effects of odor enrichment and reward-driven discrimination learning on the perception of odors. Experimental rats were exposed to two odorants for 1-h periods once daily over 10 days, or trained with the same two odorants in a forced-choice discrimination task during a daily 20 trial session over 10 days. Spontaneous discriminations between pairs of chemically similar odors were tested before and after the odor enrichment period using an olfactory habituation/discrimination task. We found that both enrichment and discrimination learning improved the subsequent perception of other, chemically unrelated odorants in similar manners. These results show that odor experience, whether passive or active, changes perception in the manner predicted based on other groups' electrophysiological experiments.

Distinct neural mechanisms mediate olfactory memory formation at different timescales

Habituation is one of the oldest forms of learning, broadly expressed across sensory systems and taxa. Here, we demonstrate that olfactory habituation induced at different timescales (comprising different odor exposure and intertrial interval durations) is mediated by different neural mechanisms. First, the persistence of habituation memory is greater when mice are habituated on longer timescales. Second, the specificity of the memory (degree of cross-habituation to similar stimuli) also depends on induction timescale. Third, we demonstrate a pharmacological double dissociation between the glutamatergic mechanisms underlying short- and long-timescale odor habituation. LY341495, a class II/III metabotropic glutamate receptor antagonist, blocked habituation only when the induction timescale was short. Conversely, MK-801, an N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist, prevented habituation only when the timescale was long. Finally, whereas short-timescale odor habituation is mediated within the anterior piriform cortex, infusion of MK-801 into the olfactory bulbs prevented odor habituation only at longer timescales. Thus, we demonstrate two neural mechanisms underlying simple olfactory learning, distinguished by their persistence and specificity, mediated by different olfactory structures and pharmacological effectors, and differentially utilized based solely on the timescale of odor presentation.