Noradrenergic modulation of behavioral odor detection and discrimination thresholds in the olfactory bulb

The mammalian main olfactory bulb (MOB) receives a significant noradrenergic input from the locus coeruleus. Norepinephrine (NE) is involved in the acquisition of conditioned odor preferences in neonatal animals and in some species‐specific odor‐dependent behaviors. Thus far, the role of NE in odor...

Full description

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Published in:	The European journal of neuroscience Vol. 32; no. 3; pp. 458 - 468
Main Authors:	Escanilla, Olga, Arrellanos, Adolfo, Karnow, Alexandra, Ennis, Matthew, Linster, Christiane
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-08-2010
Subjects:	Adrenergic beta-Antagonists - pharmacology Alprenolol - pharmacology Analysis of Variance Animals Behavior, Animal - drug effects Behavior, Animal - physiology Catheters, Indwelling detection discrimination Dose-Response Relationship, Drug locus coeruleus Male Neurons - drug effects Neurons - physiology noradrenaline Norepinephrine - metabolism Norepinephrine - pharmacology olfaction Olfactory Bulb - drug effects Olfactory Bulb - physiology Olfactory Perception - drug effects Olfactory Perception - physiology rat Rats Rats, Sprague-Dawley Sensory Thresholds - drug effects Sensory Thresholds - physiology
Online Access:	Get full text
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!

Description
Summary:	The mammalian main olfactory bulb (MOB) receives a significant noradrenergic input from the locus coeruleus. Norepinephrine (NE) is involved in the acquisition of conditioned odor preferences in neonatal animals and in some species‐specific odor‐dependent behaviors. Thus far, the role of NE in odor processing in adult rats remains less studied. We investigated the role of noradrenergic modulation in the MOB on odor detection and discrimination thresholds using behavioral and computational modeling approaches. Adult rats received bilateral MOB injections of vehicle, NE (0.1–1000 μm), noradrenergic receptor antagonists and NE + receptor antagonists combined. NE infusion improved odor detection and discrimination as a function of NE and odor concentration. The effect of NE on detection and discrimination magnitude at any given odor concentration varied in a non‐linear function with respect to NE concentration. Receptor antagonist infusion demonstrated that α1 receptor activation is necessary for the modulatory effect of NE. Computational modeling showed that increases in the strength of α1 receptor activation leads to improved odor signal‐to‐noise ratio and spike synchronization in mitral cells that may underlie the behaviorally observed decrease of detection and discrimination thresholds. Our results are the first to show that direct infusion of NE or noradrenergic receptor antagonists into a primary sensory network modulates sensory detection and discrimination thresholds at very low stimulus concentrations.
Bibliography:	istex:E380A0E1D8BF005FBFAC2C77F10F2E4BC4913BEC ark:/67375/WNG-XQTHN7N2-F ArticleID:EJN7297 ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 ObjectType-Article-2 ObjectType-Feature-1
ISSN:	0953-816X 1460-9568
DOI:	10.1111/j.1460-9568.2010.07297.x