Electrophysiological identification of the stimulatory and interactive components of a complex odorant

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
We are studying the olfactory system of the spiny lobster, Panulirus argus , to understand how chemical mixtures are coded. By monitoring the activity of high-order interneurons which carry olfactory information out of the brain, we have identified the components of a natural food of lobsters which contribute to the activity of the mixture by being either stimulatory by themselves or interactive (suppressive or synergistic) with other components in the mixture. The results demonstrate that virtually all of the activity of this complex odorant resides in 15 stimulatory and suppressive components, and that mixture suppression is a prevalent feature of chemosensory processing in the olfactory pathway of the spiny lobster.