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Self-organization in the olfactory system: one shot odor recognition in insects

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Abstract

We show in a model of spiking neurons that synaptic plasticity in the mushroom bodies in combination with the general fan-in, fan-out properties of the early processing layers of the olfactory system might be sufficient to account for its efficient recognition of odors. For a large variety of initial conditions the model system consistently finds a working solution without any fine-tuning, and is, therefore, inherently robust. We demonstrate that gain control through the known feedforward inhibition of lateral horn interneurons increases the capacity of the system but is not essential for its general function. We also predict an upper limit for the number of odor classes Drosophila can discriminate based on the number and connectivity of its olfactory neurons.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Nonlinear Science, UCSD, 9500 Gilman Dr., La Jolla, CA, 92093-0402, USA

    Thomas Nowotny, Ramón Huerta, Henry D. I. Abarbanel & Mikhail I. Rabinovich

  2. Department of Physics and Marine Physical Laboratory Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UCSD, La Jolla, CA, 93093-0402, USA

    Henry D. I. Abarbanel

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  1. Thomas Nowotny
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  2. Ramón Huerta
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  3. Henry D. I. Abarbanel
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  4. Mikhail I. Rabinovich
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Nowotny, T., Huerta, R., Abarbanel, H.D.I. et al. Self-organization in the olfactory system: one shot odor recognition in insects. Biol Cybern 93, 436–446 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00422-005-0019-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00422-005-0019-7

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