Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 19, 2025

Recording Temperature-induced Neuronal Activity through Monitoring Calcium Changes in the Olfactory Bulb of Xenopus laevis
Published on: June 3, 2016
Modeling of olfactory transduction in AWCON neuron via coupled electrical-calcium dynamics
Martina Nicoletti1,2, Nicole Luchetti1,2, Letizia Chiodo1
1Department of Engineering, Campus Bio-Medico University, Rome, Italy.
Abstract:
Amphid wing "C" (AWC) neurons are among the most important and studied neurons of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. In this work, we unify the existing electrical and intracellular calcium dynamics descriptions to obtain a biophysically accurate model of olfactory transduction in AWCON neurons. We study the membrane voltage and the intracellular calcium dynamics at different exposure times and odorant concentrations to grasp a complete picture of AWCON functioning. Moreover, we investigate the complex cascade of biochemical processes that allow AWC activation upon odor removal. We analyze the behavior of the different components of the models and, by suppressing them selectively, we extrapolate their contribution to the overall neuron response and study the resilience of the dynamical system. Our results are all in agreement with the available experimental data. Therefore, we provide an accurate mathematical and biophysical model for studying olfactory signal processing in C. elegans.
Related Concept Videos
Physiology of Smell and Olfactory Pathway
The olfactory...
The Role of Ion Channels in Neuronal Computation
Sometimes a single EPSP is strong enough to induce an action potential in the postsynaptic neuron. However, multiple presynaptic inputs must often create EPSPs around the same time for the postsynaptic neuron to be sufficiently depolarized to fire an action potential....
Olfaction
The olfactory receptors are embedded in the cilia of the...
Action Potential
Membrane potential in neurons
Neurons typically have a resting membrane potential of about -70 millivolts (mV). When they...

