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Spontaneous versus reinforced olfactory discriminations.

Christiane Linster¹, Brett A Johnson, Alix Morse

¹Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA. CL243@cornell.edu

The Journal of Neuroscience : the Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience

|August 15, 2002

Summary

Rats can discriminate between similar odorants, even if their main olfactory bulb activity patterns appear the same. Subtle neural differences allow for discrimination through training, highlighting the limits of rat olfactory perception.

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Olfactory system research
Animal behavior

Background:

Odorant enantiomers can evoke similar major response patterns in the rat olfactory bulb.
These odorant pairs are typically not distinguished in spontaneous behavioral tests.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate if subtle differences in glomerular activity exist between odorant enantiomers.
To determine if rats can discriminate between these similar odorants using differential reinforcement.

Main Methods:

Comparing detailed glomerular activity arrays for odorant enantiomers.
Utilizing differential reinforcement in behavioral tests to assess odor discrimination.

Main Results:

Even odorants with similar major response patterns show distinct activity when every data point is analyzed.

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Rats can be trained to discriminate between these previously indistinguishable odorants.

Conclusions:

The method of assessing olfactory discrimination significantly impacts perceived capabilities.
Subtle glomerular activity differences, amplified by reinforcement learning, reveal the remarkable limits of rat olfactory perception.
Major glomerular response differences underpin spontaneous odor discrimination.