Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

One in a thousand: defining the limits of olfactory perception

Subjects

Each olfactory sensory neuron in mice is defined by which of the 1,000 odorant receptor genes that it expresses. Using optogenetics, a study finds that mice can perceive stimulation of only a single class of olfactory sensory neuron.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Glomerular input and output maps resulting from optogenetic stimulation of one glomerulus.

References

  1. Smear, M., Resulaj, A., Zhang, J., Bozza, T. & Rinberg, D. Nat. Neurosci. 16, 1687–1691 (2013).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Buck, L. & Axel, R. Cell 65, 175–187 (1991).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Mombaerts, P. Curr. Opin. Neurobiol. 14, 31–36 (2004).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Linster, C. et al. J. Neurosci. 21, 9837–9843 (2001).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  5. Uchida, N. & Mainen, Z.F. Nat. Neurosci. 6, 1224–1229 (2003).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Abraham, N.M. et al. Neuron 44, 865–876 (2004).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Suh, G.S. et al. Nature 431, 854–859 (2004).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Stensmyr, M.C. et al. Cell 151, 1345–1357 (2012).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Aungst, J.L. et al. Nature 426, 623–629 (2003).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Liu, S., Plachez, C., Shao, Z., Puche, A. & Shipley, M.T. J. Neurosci. 33, 2916–2926 (2013).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  11. Whitesell, J.D., Sorensen, K.A., Jarvie, B.C., Hentges, S.T. & Schoppa, N.E. J. Neurosci. 33, 1552–1563 (2013).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  12. Rinberg, D., Koulakov, A. & Gelperin, A. J. Neurosci. 26, 8857–8865 (2006).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  13. Wachowiak, M. et al. J. Neurosci. 33, 5285–5300 (2013).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  14. Koulakov, A., Gelperin, A. & Rinberg, D. J. Neurophysiol. 98, 3134–3142 (2007).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Schaefer, M.L., Yamazaki, K., Osada, K., Restrepo, D. & Beauchamp, G.K. J. Neurosci. 22, 9513–9521 (2002).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nathan E Schoppa.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no competing financial interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Schoppa, N. One in a thousand: defining the limits of olfactory perception. Nat Neurosci 16, 1516–1517 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.3551

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.3551

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing