Real-time imaging of evoked activity in local circuits of the salamander olfactory bulb

The encoding of olfactory information in the central nervous system (CNS) depends on spatially distributed patterns of activity generated simultaneously in many neuronal circuits. Optical neurophysiological recording permits analysis of neural activity non-invasively and with high spatial and temporal resolution. Here, a video method for imaging voltage-sensitive dye fluorescence in vivo is used to map neuronal activity in local circuits of the salamander olfactory bulb. The method permits the imaging of simultaneous ensemble transmembrane activity in real time. After electrical stimulation of the olfactory nerve, activity spreads centripetally from the sites of synaptic input to generate nonhomogeneous response patterns that are presumably mediated by local circuits within the bulbar layers. The results also show the overlapping temporal sequences of activation of cell groups in each layer. The method thus provides high resolution, sequential video images of the spatial and temporal progression of transmembrane events in neuronal circuits after afferent stimulation and offers the opportunity for studying ensemble events in other brain regions.