Amplification of asynchronous inhibition-mediated synchronization by feedback in recurrent networks

Synchronization of 30-80 Hz oscillatory activity of the principle neurons in the olfactory bulb (mitral cells) is believed to be important for odor discrimination. Previous theoretical studies of these fast rhythms in other brain areas have proposed that principle neuron synchrony can be mediated by short-latency, rapidly decaying inhibition. This phasic inhibition provides a narrow time window for the principle neurons to fire, thus promoting synchrony. However, in the olfactory bulb, the inhibitory granule cells produce long lasting, small amplitude, asynchronous and aperiodic inhibitory input and thus the narrow time window that is required to synchronize spiking does not exist. Instead, it has been suggested that correlated output of the granule cells could serve to synchronize uncoupled mitral cells through a mechanism called "stochastic synchronization", wherein the synchronization arises through correlation of inputs to two neural oscillators. Almost all work on synchrony due to correlations presumes that the correlation is imposed and fixed. Building on theory and experiments that we and others have developed, we show that increased synchrony in the mitral cells could produce an increase in granule cell activity for those granule cells that share a synchronous group of mitral cells. Common granule cell input increases the input correlation to the mitral cells and hence their synchrony by providing a positive feedback loop in correlation. Thus we demonstrate the emergence and temporal evolution of input correlation in recurrent networks with feedback. We explore several theoretical models of this idea, ranging from spiking models to an analytically tractable model. © 2010 Marella, Ermentrout

Pharmacological Analysis of Ionotropic Glutamate Receptor Function in Neuronal Circuits of the Zebrafish Olfactory Bulb

Although synaptic functions of ionotropic glutamate receptors in the olfactory bulb have been studied in vitro, their roles in pattern processing in the intact system remain controversial. We therefore examined the functions of ionotropic glutamate receptors during odor processing in the intact olfactory bulb of zebrafish using pharmacological manipulations. Odor responses of mitral cells and interneurons were recorded by electrophysiology and 2-photon Ca2+ imaging. The combined blockade of AMPA/kainate and NMDA receptors abolished odor-evoked excitation of mitral cells. The blockade of AMPA/kainate receptors alone, in contrast, increased the mean response of mitral cells and decreased the mean response of interneurons. The blockade of NMDA receptors caused little or no change in the mean responses of mitral cells and interneurons. However, antagonists of both receptor types had diverse effects on the magnitude and time course of individual mitral cell and interneuron responses and, thus, changed spatio-temporal activity patterns across neuronal populations. Oscillatory synchronization was abolished or reduced by AMPA/kainate and NMDA receptor antagonists, respectively. These results indicate that (1) interneuron responses depend mainly on AMPA/kainate receptor input during an odor response, (2) interactions among mitral cells and interneurons regulate the total olfactory bulb output activity, (3) AMPA/kainate receptors participate in the synchronization of odor-dependent neuronal ensembles, and (4) ionotropic glutamate receptor-containing synaptic circuits shape odor-specific patterns of olfactory bulb output activity. These mechanisms are likely to be important for the processing of odor-encoding activity patterns in the olfactory bulb

Is there a space–time continuum in olfaction?

The coding of olfactory stimuli across a wide range of organisms may rely on fundamentally similar mechanisms in which a complement of specific odorant receptors on olfactory sensory neurons respond differentially to airborne chemicals to initiate the process by which specific odors are perceived. The question that we address in this review is the role of specific neurons in mediating this sensory system—an identity code—relative to the role that temporally specific responses across many neurons play in producing an olfactory perception—a temporal code. While information coded in specific neurons may be converted into a temporal code, it is also possible that temporal codes exist in the absence of response specificity for any particular neuron or subset of neurons. We review the data supporting these ideas, and we discuss the research perspectives that could help to reveal the mechanisms by which odorants become perceptions

Atividade antimicrobiana de derivados fenólicos do líquen Ramalina sorediosa (B. de Lesd.) Laundron Antimicrobian activity of phenols actives from the liquen Ramalina sorediosa (B. de Lesd.) Laundron

A atividade antimicrobiana de extratos brutos de Ramalina sorediosa foi detectada pelo método de difusão em disco de papel. Dois metabólitos liquênicos de natureza fenólica foram identificados por meio de técnicas biocromatográficas. Uma dessas substâncias foi identificada por meio de cromatografia em camada delgada como sendo o ácido úsnico. A segunda substância, que se encontra presente em maior concentração em relação aos demais constituintes nos extratos, trata-se do ácido homossequicáico. As análises em cromatografia em camada delgada (CCD) e cromatografia líquida de alta eficiência (CLAE) revelaram ainda a presença do ácido salazínico. Os dados obtidos tornam possível atribuir a atividade antibiótica observada nesta espécie a uma provável associação sinérgica destas substâncias.<br>The antimicrobian activity of crude extracts from Ramalina sorediosa was detected by the diffusion disc-paper method. Two phenolic compounds from the lichen considered active were detected by using biochromathograhyc technique. Two of those compounds were identified through thin layer chromatographic technique (TLC) as been usnic acid and the second one, wich is present in higher concentration when compared with the other substances, was the homosekikaik acid. The TLC and high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) assays still detected the salazanic acid presence. The obtained data make it possible to attribute the antibiotic activity of this species to a synergic association of those two substances