Modeling insect olfactory neuron signaling by a network utilizing disinhibition

A male moth locates a conspecific female by detecting her sexual-pheromone blend. This detection is carried out in the antennal lobe, the first stage of olfactory information processing, where local inhibitory neurons and projection (relay) neurons interact. Antennal-lobe neurons exhibit low-frequency (< 10 Hz) background activity and bursting (> 100 Hz) activity in response to pheromone stimulation. We describe this behavior by a realistic biophysical neuron model. The bursting behavior of the model is the result of both intrinsic cellular properties and network interaction. A slowly activating and inactivating calcium channel provides a depolarizing current for bursting and disinhibition is shown to be a feasible network mechanism for triggering this calcium channel. Small neural networks utilizing disinhibition are presented with local neurons intercalated between receptor and projection neurons. The firing behaviors of projection neurons in response to stimulation by the pheromone blend or its components are in accordance with experimental results. This network architecture offers an alternative view of olfactory processing from the classical architecture derived from vertebrate studies.