Diverse patterns of odor representation by neurons in the anterior piriform cortex of awake mice

The mammalian piriform cortex receives direct synaptic input from the olfactory bulb and is likely the locus for the formation of odor percept. It remains unclear how individual cortical neurons encode olfactory information in unanesthetized animals. By single-cell recordings from head-restrained awake mice, we studied the odor response profiles of individual neurons in the anterior piriform cortex (aPCX). Neurons were juxtacellularly labeled, and their cell types were determined by their morphology and neurotransmitter phenotypes. We found a considerable level of variability in selectivity patterns among pyramidal neurons (PNs). Approximately one-quarter of PNs were broadly activated by structurally dissimilar odorants, whereas the excitations to the rest of PNs were highly selective. Broad inhibition was only observed from a subpopulation of PNs. GABAergic neurons displayed nonselective excitatory responses to test odorants and rarely exhibited inhibition. In contrast, non-GABAergic nonpyramidal neurons in the deep layer tended to be strongly inhibited by multiple different odorants. Our findings suggest that odor representation is accomplished by both broadly tuned and narrow-tuned PNs in the aPCX of awake animals. In addition, various types of interneurons may play different roles in the intracortical processing of olfactory information.