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研究揭示嗅觉导航过程中梨状皮层的空间地图
作者:小柯机器人 发布时间:2021/12/26 14:28:10

葡萄牙Champalimaud基金会Zachary F. Mainen、Cindy Poo等研究人员合作揭示嗅觉导航过程中梨状皮层的空间地图。相关论文于2021年12月22日在线发表于国际学术期刊《自然》。

通过对自由移动的大鼠进行神经集合记录,执行气味提示的空间选择任务,研究人员表明后部梨状皮层神经元对环境有一个强大的空间表征。梨状皮层空间表征具有学习型认知地图的特征,在气味端口附近最为突出,在不同的行为背景下保持稳定,并且不受嗅觉驱动或奖励可用性的影响。单个皮状神经元携带的空间信息的准确性是由其与海马θ节律的功能耦合强度来预测的。梨状皮层神经元群同时代表了动物的气味特征和空间位置,形成了一个气味-位置图。这些研究结果揭示了梨状皮层在空间认知方面的功能,并表明它非常适合于形成气味-地点关联,并指导嗅觉提示的空间导航。

据介绍,气味是感官环境的一个基本组成部分,它被动物用来指导觅食和导航等行为。初级嗅觉(梨状)皮层被认为是编码气味特征的主要皮质区域。

附:英文原文

Title: Spatial maps in piriform cortex during olfactory navigation

Author: Poo, Cindy, Agarwal, Gautam, Bonacchi, Niccol, Mainen, Zachary F.

Issue&Volume: 2021-12-22

Abstract: Odours are a fundamental part of the sensory environment used by animals to guide behaviours such as foraging and navigation1,2. Primary olfactory (piriform) cortex is thought to be the main cortical region for encoding odour identity3,4,5,6,7,8. Here, using neural ensemble recordings in freely moving rats performing an odour-cued spatial choice task, we show that posterior piriform cortex neurons carry a robust spatial representation of the environment. Piriform spatial representations have features of a learned cognitive map, being most prominent near odour ports, stable across behavioural contexts and independent of olfactory drive or reward availability. The accuracy of spatial information carried by individual piriform neurons was predicted by the strength of their functional coupling to the hippocampal theta rhythm. Ensembles of piriform neurons concurrently represented odour identity as well as spatial locations of animals, forming an odour–place map. Our results reveal a function for piriform cortex in spatial cognition and suggest that it is well-suited to form odour–place associations and guide olfactory-cued spatial navigation.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-04242-3

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-04242-3

期刊信息

Nature:《自然》,创刊于1869年。隶属于施普林格·自然出版集团,最新IF:43.07
官方网址:http://www.nature.com/
投稿链接:http://www.nature.com/authors/submit_manuscript.html