AUTHOR=Patel Mainak J., Rangan Aaditya V., Cai David 

TITLE=Coding of odors by temporal binding within a model network of the locust antennal lobe

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Computational Neuroscience

VOLUME=Volume 7 - 2013

YEAR=2013

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/computational-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fncom.2013.00050

DOI=10.3389/fncom.2013.00050

ISSN=1662-5188

ABSTRACT=The locust olfactory system interfaces with the external world through antennal receptor neurons
(ORNs), which represent odors in a distributed, combinatorial manner. ORN axons bundle
together to form the antennal nerve, which relays sensory information centrally to the antennal
lobe (AL). Within the AL, an odor generates a dynamically evolving ensemble of active cells,
leading to a stimulus-specific temporal progression of neuronal spiking. In order to study
information coding within the locust AL, we developed a scaled-down model of the locust AL
using Hodgkin Huxley-type neurons and biologically realistic connectivity parameters and
current components. Using our model, we examined correlations in the precise timing of spikes
across multiple neurons. We propose that the dynamical interplay of fast and slow inhibition
within the locust AL induces correlations in the spiking activity of an odor-dependent neural
subset, giving rise to a temporal binding code that allows rapid stimulus detection by downstream
elements.