Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 30, 2026

The Subventricular Zone En-face: Wholemount Staining and Ependymal Flow
Published on: May 6, 2010
Sensory input regulates spatial and subtype-specific patterns of neuronal turnover in the adult olfactory bulb
Masato Sawada1, Naoko Kaneko, Hiroyuki Inada
1Department of Developmental and Regenerative Biology, Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Nagoya 467-8601, Japan.
Abstract:
Throughout life, new neurons are added and old ones eliminated in the adult mouse olfactory bulb. Previous studies suggested that olfactory experience controls the process by which new neurons are integrated into mature circuits. Here we report novel olfactory-experience-dependent mechanisms of neuronal turnover. Using two-photon laser-scanning microscopy and sensory manipulations in adult live mice, we found that the neuronal turnover was dynamically controlled by olfactory input in a neuronal subtype-specific manner. Olfactory input enhanced this turnover, which was characterized by the reiterated use of the same positions in the glomeruli by new neurons. Our results suggest that olfactory-experience-dependent modification of neuronal turnover confers structural plasticity and stability on the olfactory bulb.
Related Concept Videos
Olfaction
The olfactory receptors are embedded in the cilia of the...
Olfactory Receptors: Location and Structure
Physiology of Smell and Olfactory Pathway
The olfactory...
Neurogenesis and Regeneration of Nervous Tissue

