Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Olfaction01:25

Olfaction

The sense of smell is achieved through the activities of the olfactory system. It starts when an airborne odorant enters the nasal cavity and reaches olfactory epithelium (OE). The OE is protected by a thin layer of mucus, which also serves the purpose of dissolving more complex compounds into simpler chemical odorants. The size of the OE and the density of sensory neurons varies among species; in humans, the OE is only about 9-10 cm2.
The olfactory receptors are embedded in the cilia of the...
Physiology of Smell and Olfactory Pathway01:20

Physiology of Smell and Olfactory Pathway

Humans detect odors with the help of specialized cells located in the upper part of the nasal cavity, called olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs). ORNs possess hair-like structures called cilia, which are receptive to sensations from the inhaled air. When an odorant molecule binds to a specific receptor on the cell of the cilia, it leads to a series of events that ultimately cause the ORN to send electrical signals to the olfactory bulb in the brain through the olfactory nerves.
The olfactory...
Olfactory Receptors: Location and Structure01:03

Olfactory Receptors: Location and Structure

The process of olfaction, also known as the sense of smell, is a sophisticated chemical response system. The specialized sensory neurons that facilitate this process, known as olfactory receptor neurons, are situated in an upper segment of the nasal cavity, known as the olfactory epithelium. Olfactory sensory neurons are bipolar, with their dendrites extending from the epithelium's apex into the mucus that lines the nasal cavity. Airborne molecules, when inhaled, traverse the olfactory...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

A Data-Driven Visit Windowing Approach Applied to Cochlear Implant Follow-Up Data.

Studies in health technology and informatics·2026
Same author

Soluble epoxide hydrolase drives neurovascular dysfunction in a model of amyloidosis.

Brain : a journal of neurology·2026
Same author

Encoding performance of cortical neurons critically depends on their morphological and neurophysiological properties.

PLoS biology·2026
Same author

DNA-PAINT resolves E-cadherin-independent cross-junctional F-actin organization in Drosophila embryonic tissue.

Biophysical journal·2026
Same author

Comprehensive evaluation of cochlear implantation in otosclerosis: radiological, technical, and audiological outcomes over five years.

Cochlear implants international·2025
Same author

Charting the nanotopography of inner hair cell synapses using MINFLUX nanoscopy.

Science advances·2025
Same journal

Spatiomolecular mapping reveals anatomical organization of heterogeneous cell types in the human nucleus accumbens.

Neuron·2026
Same journal

TGF-β1-induced endothelial transcytosis drives blood-brain barrier leakage during aging.

Neuron·2026
Same journal

Image space opens up for visual neuroscience.

Neuron·2026
Same journal

Septal GLP-1 receptors control alcohol taking and seeking.

Neuron·2026
Same journal

Microglial fitness in moderation: Tuning TREM2 signaling through Ptpn6.

Neuron·2026
Same journal

Human astrocytes keep time with inflammation.

Neuron·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 9, 2026

Simultaneous Long-term Recordings at Two Neuronal Processing Stages in Behaving Honeybees
13:55

Simultaneous Long-term Recordings at Two Neuronal Processing Stages in Behaving Honeybees

Published on: July 21, 2014

Olfactory coding with patterns of response latencies.

Stephan Junek1, Eugen Kludt, Fred Wolf

  • 1Department of Neurophysiology and Cellular Biophysics, University of Göttingen, Humboldtallee 23, 37073 Göttingen, Germany. sjunek@gwdg.de

Neuron
|September 10, 2010
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Odor identity and concentration are reliably encoded by the timing of the first nerve impulses (first-spike latencies) in olfactory bulb cells. These latency patterns, particularly rank patterns, offer crucial information for scent perception.

More Related Videos

New Methods to Study Gustatory Coding
10:59

New Methods to Study Gustatory Coding

Published on: June 29, 2017

Olfactory Context Dependent Memory: Direct Presentation of Odorants
04:47

Olfactory Context Dependent Memory: Direct Presentation of Odorants

Published on: September 18, 2018

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 9, 2026

Simultaneous Long-term Recordings at Two Neuronal Processing Stages in Behaving Honeybees
13:55

Simultaneous Long-term Recordings at Two Neuronal Processing Stages in Behaving Honeybees

Published on: July 21, 2014

New Methods to Study Gustatory Coding
10:59

New Methods to Study Gustatory Coding

Published on: June 29, 2017

Olfactory Context Dependent Memory: Direct Presentation of Odorants
04:47

Olfactory Context Dependent Memory: Direct Presentation of Odorants

Published on: September 18, 2018

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Olfactory System Research
  • Sensory Processing

Background:

  • The precise mechanism by which the olfactory bulb encodes odor information remains debated.
  • Spatiotemporal patterns of mitral/tufted (M/T) cell activity are implicated in odor encoding.
  • Temporal constraints from behavioral studies suggest the importance of timing in olfactory perception.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the role of first-spike latencies in encoding odor identity and concentration.
  • To compare the information content of latency patterns versus firing rate patterns.
  • To assess the reproducibility of latency patterns in M/T cells and olfactory receptor neurons.

Main Methods:

  • Simultaneous electrophysiological recordings from dozens of M/T cells with high temporal resolution.
  • Application of quantitative ensemble correlation techniques to analyze neural activity.
  • Analysis of odor-evoked first-spike latencies and firing rates.

Main Results:

  • Odor-evoked latency patterns, especially latency rank patterns, are highly odor-specific and reproducible.
  • Latency patterns reliably predict odor identity and concentration on a single-trial basis and short timescales.
  • Latency rank patterns demonstrate superior reproducibility in M/T cells compared to olfactory receptor neurons.
  • Latency patterns provide more reliable odor information than firing rate patterns.

Conclusions:

  • First-spike latency patterns in M/T cells contain sufficient information for odor identification and concentration detection.
  • Latency rank patterns represent a robust code for olfactory information processing in the olfactory bulb.
  • The timing of neural responses, not just the overall firing rate, is critical for olfactory perception.