Spatio-Temporal Representation of Odor information in Olfactory Bulb

摘要

In order to clarify the mechanism of neural information processing along the path from epithelium to olfactory bulb, we propose a model in which spatial representation of odor information in the epithelium is transformed into spatio-temporal representaiton in the olfactory bulb. The spatio-temporal pattern of neural activities consist of a temporal sequence of spatial firing patterns of a mitral cell network. Each spatial pattern encodes each constituent ingredient of an order and the temporal jsequence encodes the order of mixing ratio of the ingredients. By using a realistic neurla network model of olfactory bulb, we show how limit cycle attractors are generated, that is, how odors are memorized. We clarify also the role of chaotically itinerant state in recognition of known odors and in response to novel odors.