Axonal projections and conduction properties of olfactory peduncle neurons in the rat

Electrophysiological methods were employed to study the axonal properties of the neurons of anterior olfactory nucleus (AON), transition zone (TZ), and rostral prepyriform cortex (RPPC) and their projections towards the ipsilateral and contralateral olfactory bulb (IOB, COB) in the rat. Of 91 antidromically driven cells, 39 (43%) and 32 (35%) responded to IOB and COB stimulation, respectively; 20 (22%) were discharged from both bulbs. Collison tests performed on the latter group indicated that these neurons have a short main axon which divides near the soma, projecting one branch to the COB and a thinner one toward the IOB. Mean conduction velocities of axons projecting to the IOB and the COB were 0.4 m/s and 0.7 o/s, respectively, the faster conducting axons having shorter refractory periods. Of the 38 neurons tested, 92% showed decreases in threshold and latency (up to 20% of control antidromic latency) after a test volley that was preceded by a conditioning pulse at intervals of 20--215 ms. Latency decreases were greater for slowly conducting axons than for the faster ones. These after-effects of impulse activity in OB afferent axons were attributed to the presence of a supernormal period of increased conduction velocity and excitability similar to that found in the olfactory nerve (Bliss and Rosenberg, 1974).