Topic: odorant representations

Animals flexibly adjust their behavior to adapt to environmental changes. Mice excel at recognizing odorants in complex sensory conditions; however, little we know about: (1)how sudden changes in stimulus contingency modify odorant representations and (2)how changes in odorant representations causally relate to behavioral adjustments. The olfactory bulb(OB) relays odor-triggered information to higher olfactory areas, including the piriform cortex(PCx). The PCx receives input from association areas(e.g., orbitofrontal cortex) and sends dense feedback that selectively modulates one of the OB out

The peripheral olfactory system analyses odorants through a large number of genetically defined information channels in the antennal lobe (AL), each associated to an olfactory receptor (OR) type. In Drosophila, these channels are combined in two major downstream areas - the mushroom body (MB) and lateral horn (LH). These areas are thought to support different aspects of olfactory information processing: the MB supports ongoing learning, while the LH mediates innate behavioral responses. Here, we provide a geometric analysis of representations in these different areas. We model odorant represe