Visualizing odor representation in the brain: a review of imaging techniques for the mapping of sensory activity in the olfactory glomeruli |
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Authors: | F Pain B L’Heureux H Gurden |
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Institution: | 1.Laboratoire Imagerie et Modélisation en Neurobiologie et Cancérologie,UMR8165 Université Paris Sud, CNRS,Orsay,France |
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Abstract: | The brain transforms clues from the external world, the sensory stimuli, into activities in neuroglial networks. These circuits
are activated in specialized sensory cortices where specific functional modules are responsible for the spatiotemporal coding
of the stimulus. A major challenge in the neuroscience field has been to image the spatial distribution and follow the temporal
dynamics of the activation of such large populations in vivo. Functional imaging techniques developed in the last 30 years
have enabled researchers to solve this critical issue, and are reviewed here. These techniques utilize sources of contrast
of radioisotopic, magnetic and optical origins and exploit two major families of signals to image sensory activity: the first
class uses sources linked to cellular energy metabolism and hemodynamics, while the second involves exogenous indicators of
neuronal activity. The whole panel of imaging techniques has fostered the functional exploration of the olfactory bulb which
is one of the most studied sensory structures. We summarize the major results obtained using these techniques that describe
the spatial and temporal activity patterns in the olfactory glomeruli, the first relay of olfactory information processing
in the main olfactory bulb. We conclude this review by describing promising technical developments in optical imaging and
future directions in the study of olfactory spatiotemporal coding. |
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