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Studies on local E.O.G. and single receptors response to multiple odour stimulation in the Frog
... Discrimination among different odors is the least understood operation performed by olfactory receptor cells. Physiological mechanisms underlying discrimination at the receptor level have been studied with single unit recording techniques (Gesteland et al., 1963;Shibuya and Shibuya, 1963;Takagi and Omura, 1963;Gesteland et al. 1965;Shibuya and Tucker, 1967;Shibuya, 1969;Altner and Boeckh, 1967;O'Connell and Mozell, 1969;Mathews, 1972;Shibuya and Tonosaki, 1972;Daval et al., 1972). From these investigations, in a variety of vertebrate species, there appears to be a general consensus that single receptor cells have relatively broad response spectra to molecules which evoke different odor sensations. ...
... Gesteland (1971) reported that approximately 60 spikes/min was typical for the frog. Daval et al. (1972) noted that the activity ranged around 12 spikes/ min in the frog maintained at 12 0 C. However, physiological parameters such as spike conformation, length of time for which the spontaneous activity was monitored, interspike interval information, and variance in firing frequency have not been reported. ...
... Stimulus-related responses recorded from olfactory receptors have been classified as excitatory, inhibitory, or no change in spontaneous activity (Gesteland et al., 1963(Gesteland et al., , 1965 when judged by subjective criteria. Daval et al. (1972), Holley et al. (1974, and Blank (1974) reported that inhibitory responses were recorded from frog olfactory receptors by estimating the "response magnitude" which is the total number of spikes in the response minus the background spontaneous activity. Such "inhibitory responses" could not be reliably evaluated in this study using quantitative techniques due to low spontaneous firing frequencies as evidenced by long mean interspike intervals which ranged from 0.5 to 13.7 s (Fig. 4) and its asynchronous character as suggested by wide first standard deviations from the mean interval (Fig. 5). ...
Responses of receptor cells in the frog's olfactory epithelium were recorded using platinum-black metal-filled microelectrodes. Spontaneous activity varied over a wide range from 0.07 to 1.8 spikes/s. Mean interspike intervals ranged from 13.7 to 0.5 s. Excitatory responses to six sterically related compounds at low concentrations were investigated. Stimuli were delivered in an aqueous medium. Thresholds for impulse initiation varied from greater than 1 mM down to the nanomolar concentration range. Thresholds of different olfactory receptors to the same stimulus could vary by several log units. Thresholds of the same receptor cell to different stimuli could be within the same order of magnitude, or could vary by as much as 5 log units. Based upon quantitative measures of stimulus-evoked excitatory responses it appeared that some receptors did not discriminate among sterically related molecules, whereas other receptors clearly discriminated between stimuli which evoke similar odor sensations.
... First, a number of a priori criteria including molecular shape, chemical structure, and range of vapor pressures were considered to be determinants of response. Second, results from previous electrophysiological and psychophysical experiments (e.g., Stuiver, 1958; Daval et al., 1972; Holley et al., 1974;) were used as a guide in the selection process. ...
Temporal patterns and selectivity in unitary responses of 100 single olfactory receptors in the tiger salamander to odor stimulation were investigated. An olfactometer which permitted control of stimulus concentration, duration, and flow rate was calibrated with a gas chromatograph. Stimulus pulses were monitored by recording the electroolfactogram from the surface of the olfactory epithelium. Both diphasic and triphasic spikes were recorded extracellularly. No discernible differences in types of responses, reproducibility of responses, and cross-unit distribution of spontaneous rates distinguished diphasic from triphasic units. The cross-unit selectivity in responses to the seven olfactory stimulants used and the range of odorant concentrations which effectively evoked these responses suggest variations in types and number of types of receptive sites on each cell. Temporal patterns in the unitary responses were generally less complex than those observed in the olfactory bulb. Phasic stimulations evoked phasic patterns. Tonic stimulations evoked phasic/tonic patterns. Occasionally poststimulus depressions or elevations in firing rates were observed. The nature of these patterns varied somewhat with odorant concentration for a particular unit.
... It is especially noteworthy that in the main category of excitatory responses the impulse discharge did not terminate prior to the end of the pulse as one proceeded to higher concentrations. This is in contrast to several reports in the literature of bursts of impulses which appear to decrease in duration with increasing concentration (Shibuya & Tucker, 1967; Mathews, 1972; Daval et al. 1972; Gesteland, 1976). Careful inspection of the published recordings suggests that the apparent decreased response duration could be complicated by other factors, e.g. ...
1. The response properties of single olfactory receptor cells in the salamander have been analysed in unitary recordings obtained with platinum-black metal-filled micro-electrodes. 2. Stimulation has been carried out using an apparatus which delivers odour pulses of abrupt onset, steady plateau and abrupt termination. The pulses have been monitored near the site of stimulation on the olfactory epithelium during the experiments. 3. The main type of response was a discharge of impulses that was time locked to the stimulus pulse. The pattern of the responses consisted of a relatively brief latency of onset, a rapid rise in impulse frequency, a continuation of impulse firing during the plateau of the pulse, and an abrupt termination of the discharge correlated with the termination of the pulse. 4. There was a clear relationship between the receptor responses and odour concentration. In general, impulse firing frequency increased with increasing odour concentration. The firing frequency ranged from approximately 1--3 impulses/sec at threshold, up to 20 impulses/sec at the highest concentration. 5. Two types of reduced impulse activity were observed. One occurred after the termination of the pulse and lasted 1--3 sec; this was a common occurrence. The other type was seen during a pulse as a reduction of impulse activity compared to the background level; this type was rarely observed. 6. The receptor responses resembled those of mitral cells in the olfactory bulb to odour pulses in their sensitivity to odour concentration. They differed in that mitral cells show primary response categories consisting of brief excitation followed by suppression, and pure suppression, that are rarely seen at the receptor level. These differences may be ascribed to synaptic interactions in the olfactory bulb. 7. It is concluded that the majority of receptor cells have a stereotyped discharge response pattern and a systematic relation to odour concentration. These properties appear to reflect the simple time course of the odour pulses used in these experiments. This represents an initial step toward analysing olfactory coding at the receptor level using stimuli controlled in a manner similar to that used in other sensory systems.
... There is evidence that the initial electrical event is a graded receptor potential (Ottoson, 1956). The output of the cell has been recorded as spike activity (Gesteland, Lettvin, Pitts & Rojas, 1963; Shibuya & Shibuya, 1963; Takagi & Omura, 1963; Gesteland, Lettvin & Pitts, 1965; Shibuya & Tucker, 1967; Altner & Boeckh, 1967; THOMAS V. CETCHELL Shibuya, 1969; O'Connell & Mozell, 1969; Sutterlin & Sutterlin, 1971; Suzuki & Tucker, 1971; Mathews, 1972; Daval, Leveteau, MacLeod, Holley, Duchamp & Revial, 1972). This activity has been variously reported as being recorded from the axon or, in some cases, from the cell body. ...
1. Differences in unitary spike conformation were systematically investigated with extracellular recordings at different depths in the frog's olfactory epithelium. Platinum‐black metal‐filled micro‐electrodes were used in the unit recordings. Their properties were carefully investigated and compared with those of micropipettes.
2. Three basic types of spikes were recorded: a diphasic spike with a positive—negative voltage sequence, a diphasic spike with a negative—positive voltage sequence and a triphasic spike with a positive—negative—positive voltage sequence.
3. The triphasic spike was correlated with the action potential in the axon. The initially negative diphasic spike was correlated with the action potential initiated in the cell body region. The initially positive diphasic spike was correlated with the spread of the impulse into the receptor cell dendrite.
4. A model is discussed which accounts for the differences in spike conformations and provides a basis for analysing impulse activity in spontaneously active and stimulus‐driven olfactory receptor cells.
The ability to recognize chemical stimuli in the external environment is a feature of living organisms ranging from bacteria to man. It has played a crucial role in the search for food, detection of adverse environments, and sexual behaviour. The transduction process of chemoreception in both lower organisms and higher vertebrates consists of binding of chemical stimuli to a receptor membrane, giving rise to a receptor generator potential. This potential either triggers a chemotactic response in lower organisms or is transmitted in the form of neural impulses to signal processing centres in higher animals. In vertebrates, chemical stimuli in external environments are received at gustatory and olfactory receptor cells. These cells detect chemicals, encode information about the intensity, duration and quality and transmit it to higher processing centres. This chapter discusses some aspects of current research in the physiology and psychophysics of taste and smell in vertebrates.
The responses to odour stimulation of 61 single mitral cells and of 64 single anterior olfactory nucleus (AON) units were simultaneously recorded from rabbits. The test battery consisted of 6 chemical stimuli delivered at two intensity levels corresponding to a hundred-fold difference in concentration. The odour discrimination reaches its best for the mitral cells stimulated weakly; it decreased somewhere when the same cells are stimulated strongly. At AON level the odour discrimination already limited in the case of weak stimuli, almost disappears for strong stimuli. Multidimensional analysis of the odour similarities, respectively in the olfactory bulb and the AON, reveals an unexpectedly high loading of the first axis with an intensity factor. Our results indicate that the discriminatory ability in the mitral cells and in the AON cells are respectively better and poorer than in the chemoreceptors.
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