Valence opponency in peripheral olfactory processing
Abstract
Are olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs) arranged in a functionally meaningful manner to facilitate information processing? Here, we address this long-standing question by uncovering a valence map in the olfactory periphery of Drosophila . Within sensory hairs, we find that neighboring ORNs antagonistically regulate behaviors: stereotypically compartmentalized large- and small-spike ORNs, recognized by their characteristic spike amplitudes, either promote or inhibit the same type of behavior, respectively. Systematic optogenetic and thermogenetic assays—covering the majority of antennal sensilla—highlight a valence-opponent organization. Critically, odor-mixture behavioral experiments show that lateral inhibition between antagonistic ORNs mediates robust behavioral decisions in response to countervailing cues. Computational modeling predicts that the robustness of behavioral output depends on odor mixture ratios.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Jan 28, 2022
- Source ID
- 10.1073/pnas.2120134119
Entities
People
- Chih-Ying Su
- Dhruv Grover
- Jen-yung Chen
- Johnatan Aljadeff
- Ralph J. Greenspan
- Renny Ng
- Shiuan-Tze Wu
- Vanessa Martin
- Ye Zhang
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders
- University of California, San Diego