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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...
Electrical Synapses01:28

Electrical Synapses

Electrical synapses found in all nervous systems play important and unique roles. In these synapses, the presynaptic and postsynaptic membranes are very close together (3.5 nm) and are actually physically connected by channel proteins forming gap junctions.
Gap junctions allow the current to pass directly from one cell to the next. In contrast, in the chemical synapse, the neurotransmitters carry the information through the synaptic cleft from one neuron to the next. They consist of two...
Auditory Pathway01:15

Auditory Pathway

Auditory pathways constitute the complex neural circuits responsible for transmitting and interpreting auditory information from the peripheral auditory system to the brain. Sound waves are initially captured by the outer ear, funneled through the ear canal, and reach the tympanic membrane (eardrum). These vibrations are transmitted via the middle ear's ossicles to the inner ear's cochlea.
When viewed cross-sectionally, the cochlea reveals the scala vestibuli and scala tympani flanking the...
G-Protein Gated Ion Channels01:21

G-Protein Gated Ion Channels

GPCRs are primarily responsible for our sense of smell, taste, and vision.  The binding of a sensory stimulus activates GPCR to stimulate effector proteins, many of which are ion channels in the sensory organs. GPCRs modulate the opening and closing of the target ion channels either directly by binding them, or by releasing second messengers that activate these channels. As ions move across the membrane, the membrane potential is altered, which induces an appropriate response.
Sensory organs,...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 8, 2026

Recording Temperature-induced Neuronal Activity through Monitoring Calcium Changes in the Olfactory Bulb of Xenopus laevis
11:08

Recording Temperature-induced Neuronal Activity through Monitoring Calcium Changes in the Olfactory Bulb of Xenopus laevis

Published on: June 3, 2016

Electrical coupling between olfactory glomeruli.

Emre Yaksi1, Rachel I Wilson

  • 1Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, 220 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA.

Neuron
|September 28, 2010
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Lateral excitation in Drosophila

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Last Updated: Jun 8, 2026

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Quadruple Immunostaining of the Olfactory Bulb for Visualization of Olfactory Sensory Axon Molecular Identity Codes
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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Insect olfaction
  • Sensory processing

Background:

  • In the Drosophila antennal lobe, excitation spreads between glomerular processing channels.
  • The mechanism of this lateral excitation is not fully understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the mechanism of lateral excitation in the Drosophila antennal lobe.
  • To determine the role of excitatory local neurons (eLNs) in mediating lateral excitation and their effects on projection neurons (PNs).

Main Methods:

  • Dual recordings from eLNs and PNs.
  • Utilizing a gap-junction mutation to assess the role of electrical synapses.
  • Blocking chemical neurotransmission to differentiate between electrical and chemical synapses.

Main Results:

  • eLN-to-PN synapses mediate both hyperpolarization and depolarization.
  • Lateral excitation is mediated by electrical synapses from eLNs onto PNs, as evidenced by a gap-junction mutation abolishing this effect.
  • eLNs also synapse onto inhibitory local neurons (iLNs), creating an indirect inhibitory pathway.
  • Eliminating eLN-to-iLN synapses boosted PN odor responses and reduced disinhibition.

Conclusions:

  • eLNs exert opposing effects on PNs: direct excitation via electrical synapses and indirect inhibition via iLNs.
  • Lateral excitation enhances sensitivity to weak stimuli and recruits inhibitory gain control for strong stimuli.