TY - JOUR
T1 - Effects of Mechanosensory Input on the Tracking of Pulsatile Odor Stimuli by Moth Antennal Lobe Neurons
AU - Tuckman, Harrison
AU - Patel, Mainak
AU - Lei, Hong
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was partly funded by Award 2014217, a subaward to BHS as part of the NSF/CIHR/DFG/FRQ/UKRI-MRC Next Generation Networks for Neuroscience Program.
Publisher Copyright:
© Copyright © 2021 Tuckman, Patel and Lei.
PY - 2021/10/7
Y1 - 2021/10/7
N2 - Air turbulence ensures that in a natural environment insects tend to encounter odor stimuli in a pulsatile fashion. The frequency and duration of odor pulses varies with distance from the source, and hence successful mid-flight odor tracking requires resolution of spatiotemporal pulse dynamics. This requires both olfactory and mechanosensory input (from wind speed), a form of sensory integration observed within the antennal lobe (AL). In this work, we employ a model of the moth AL to study the effect of mechanosensory input on AL responses to pulsatile stimuli; in particular, we examine the ability of model neurons to: (1) encode the temporal length of a stimulus pulse; (2) resolve the temporal dynamics of a high frequency train of brief stimulus pulses. We find that AL glomeruli receiving olfactory input are adept at encoding the temporal length of a stimulus pulse but less effective at tracking the temporal dynamics of a pulse train, while glomeruli receiving mechanosensory input but little olfactory input can efficiently track the temporal dynamics of high frequency pulse delivery but poorly encode the duration of an individual pulse. Furthermore, we show that stronger intrinsic small-conductance calcium-dependent potassium (SK) currents tend to skew cells toward being better trackers of pulse frequency, while weaker SK currents tend to entail better encoding of the temporal length of individual pulses. We speculate a possible functional division of labor within the AL, wherein, for a particular odor, glomeruli receiving strong olfactory input exhibit prolonged spiking responses that facilitate detailed discrimination of odor features, while glomeruli receiving mechanosensory input (but little olfactory input) serve to resolve the temporal dynamics of brief, pulsatile odor encounters. Finally, we discuss how this hypothesis extends to explaining the functional significance of intraglomerular variability in observed phase II response patterns of AL neurons.
AB - Air turbulence ensures that in a natural environment insects tend to encounter odor stimuli in a pulsatile fashion. The frequency and duration of odor pulses varies with distance from the source, and hence successful mid-flight odor tracking requires resolution of spatiotemporal pulse dynamics. This requires both olfactory and mechanosensory input (from wind speed), a form of sensory integration observed within the antennal lobe (AL). In this work, we employ a model of the moth AL to study the effect of mechanosensory input on AL responses to pulsatile stimuli; in particular, we examine the ability of model neurons to: (1) encode the temporal length of a stimulus pulse; (2) resolve the temporal dynamics of a high frequency train of brief stimulus pulses. We find that AL glomeruli receiving olfactory input are adept at encoding the temporal length of a stimulus pulse but less effective at tracking the temporal dynamics of a pulse train, while glomeruli receiving mechanosensory input but little olfactory input can efficiently track the temporal dynamics of high frequency pulse delivery but poorly encode the duration of an individual pulse. Furthermore, we show that stronger intrinsic small-conductance calcium-dependent potassium (SK) currents tend to skew cells toward being better trackers of pulse frequency, while weaker SK currents tend to entail better encoding of the temporal length of individual pulses. We speculate a possible functional division of labor within the AL, wherein, for a particular odor, glomeruli receiving strong olfactory input exhibit prolonged spiking responses that facilitate detailed discrimination of odor features, while glomeruli receiving mechanosensory input (but little olfactory input) serve to resolve the temporal dynamics of brief, pulsatile odor encounters. Finally, we discuss how this hypothesis extends to explaining the functional significance of intraglomerular variability in observed phase II response patterns of AL neurons.
KW - SK channel
KW - antennal lobe model
KW - moth olfactory dynamics
KW - odor plume tracking
KW - odor pulse
KW - olfaction
KW - sensory integration
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85117450803&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85117450803&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3389/fnins.2021.739730
DO - 10.3389/fnins.2021.739730
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85117450803
SN - 1662-4548
VL - 15
JO - Frontiers in Neuroscience
JF - Frontiers in Neuroscience
M1 - 739730
ER -