Odor Coding in the Olfactory Bulb

Synopsis Odor signals that are detected by olfactory sensory neurons are represented as an odor map in their axon terminals in the olfactory bulb. In the mitral/tufted cells of the olfactory bulb, odor information is represented not only by the firing rate, but also by the temporal patterns of activity (phase coding), which is utilized for concentration-invariant odor identity coding. Mitral/tufted cell activity also shows plastic changes to efficiently and robustly recognize odors in a context-dependent manner.