Electrophysiological Network Modeling Of Olfactory Bulb And Study Of Information Coding

Compared with other sensory systems, olfactory system is a chemical sensory system which appears most originally, degenerates fastest, has the simplest structure and is studied relatively late. The research of it has very important values in exploring other sensory systems and the mechanisms of information processing and memory in the brain. As the first synaptic relay center in olfactory system, olfactory bulb is an important part in integrating and coding the olfactory information. The spatiotemporal coding of olfactory information in the olfactory bulb is a basis of odor discrimination. Thus, the research of the electrophysiology of the olfactory bulb is the basis for getting to comprehend the coding mechanism of olfactory system.In this paper, we first introduce the anatomical structure and the mechanisms of olfactory system, focusing on the physical characters of different kinds of cells in the olfactory bulb. Secondly, we introduce a set of typical models ever proposed on olfactory system, particularly the status of electrophysiological network models of olfactory bulb and the main methods for studying the neural information. Thirdly, we construct a model incorporating periglomerular cells, mitral cells, granule cells and the dendrodendritic synapses among them, including the modeling of single cell, synapses and the structure of the network model. Finally, we study the mechanism of olfactory information coding based on this model, and explore the effect of periglomerular cells in olfactory coding.The model we construct here provide a good platform for studying the mechanisms of olfactory system; meanwhile, the research results of this paper lay a good foundation for the further study of olfactory coding.