Synonyms
Odotopic Representation; Chemotopic Representation; Glomerulus Map
Definition
The orderly and species-stereotypical projection of olfactory sensory neurons from the olfactory epithelium into glomeruli of the main olfactory bulb produces a glomerular map wherein individual consistently located glomeruli can be related to individual odorant receptor genes. Because odorant receptors are differentially activated by a characteristic set of odorant ligands, different odorants activate characteristic spatial patterns of activity in the glomerular layer of the olfactory bulb (odotopic representation). Because odorants that share particular aspects of chemical structure and/or overall molecular properties overlap in their stimulation of receptors and glomeruli, and because glomeruli responding to similar odorant chemicals tend to be located near one another in the bulb, the glomerular map can be described in terms of odorant chemistry (chemotopic representation). Similarities in the...
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Johnson, B.A., Leon, M. (2009). Glomerular Map. In: Binder, M.D., Hirokawa, N., Windhorst, U. (eds) Encyclopedia of Neuroscience. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-29678-2_2024
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-29678-2_2024
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