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Olfactory experience accelerates glomerular refinement in the mammalian olfactory bulb

Nature Neuroscience volume 9, pages 484–486 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

Primary olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs) impart both molecular and functional organization to the olfactory bulb. Because OSNs can be selectively activated by odorants in vivo, we sought to determine whether odorant experience alters the cellular dynamics of specific OSNs or their axonal projections. Using mice, we found that odorant stimulation associated with behavioral conditioning influenced OSN wiring by accelerating glomerular refinement independent of OSN number; furthermore, this wiring was strongly associated with olfactory learning.

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Figure 1: Octanal-conditioned aversive behavior correlates with accelerated glomerular refinement independent of OSN number.
Figure 2: Nonconditioned octanal-exposed mice are similar to controls both in behavior and glomerular maturation.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank P. Mombaerts for the rI7→M71-IRES-GFP-IRES-taulacZ mice and N. Balducci for technical support. We are also grateful to M. Stopfer, N. Ryba, B. Belluscio and members of the Belluscio lab for helpful discussions and critical review of the manuscript. This research was supported by the Intramural Research Program of the US National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

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Affiliations

  1. Developmental Neural Plasticity Unit, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, 20892, Maryland, USA

    Mariel A Kerr & Leonardo Belluscio

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  1. Mariel A Kerr
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  2. Leonardo Belluscio
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Correspondence to Leonardo Belluscio.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Fig. 1

Refinement of the rI7→M71 glomerulus is independent of acetophenone conditioning but dependent upon octanal conditioning. (PDF 123 kb)

Supplementary Fig. 2

Olfactory epithelial turnover. (PDF 1021 kb)

Supplementary Methods (PDF 92 kb)

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Kerr, M., Belluscio, L. Olfactory experience accelerates glomerular refinement in the mammalian olfactory bulb. Nat Neurosci 9, 484–486 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn1673

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