Olfactory Computation in Mitral-Granule Cell Circuits

Synonyms

Vertebrate olfactory bulb computation

Definition

Olfactory computation in mitral-granule cell circuits refers those operations between mitral and granule cells that can directly modulate the mitral cell firing behavior. In vertebrates, they are carried out by the reciprocal synapses established between mitral cells’ lateral dendrites and spines on granule cell dendrites (Shepherd 2004).

Detailed Description

Mitral-granule cell circuits are formed by the continuous and dynamic reconfiguration of their synaptic connections during the entire life of the organism. Although, to date, there is no direct experimental evidence for plasticity of these synaptic connections, their sparse and distributed nature is well established (Willhite et al. 2006) and widely acknowledged as being the main mechanism responsible for the lateral inhibition effects observed in the olfactory bulb (Yokoi et al. 1995). This entry focuses on the circuital aspects of the mitral-granule reciprocal synapses,...