# Investigating axonal and glial adaptations to sensory manipulations in the olfactory system

> **NIH NIH F31** · UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER · 2020 · $26,216

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
 In the olfactory bulb, the firing rates and coordinated firing patterns of mitral and tufted cells encode
aspects of olfactory information including odor identity and whether an odor deserves attention (odor salience).
Throughout life, these firing properties can change dramatically as an animal learns. While the local circuits
and centrifugal inputs modulating the output of mitral and tufted cells are reasonably well understood, there is
virtually no understanding of how these cells transmit odor information to other sensory processing regions
along long, myelinated axonal tracts. Axonal domains such as the axon initial segment and myelinated
domains like nodes of Ranvier and the myelin sheath play a vital role in neuronal firing properties and
conduction velocity, but whether they adapt to facilitate information processing in adults is not known. This
proposal is comprised of two aims which seek to test the hypothesis that axonal domains change in response
to neuronal activity in adult animals. The first aim uses immunohistochemistry and electron microscopy to
investigate the structure of the axon initial segments, myelin sheaths, and nodes of Ranvier in adult animals
following sensory deprivation with unilateral naris occlusion, and an optogenetic version of the go-no go
associative learning paradigm where mice learn to detect and odorant. I will determine whether adaptations
occur following sensory deprivation and learning. The second aim investigates the physiological consequences
of sensory deprivation and learning on the function of axons projecting out of the olfactory bulb. Together,
these experiments seek to test the hypothesis that myelin and axonal domains adapt to sensory manipulations
in adults and participate in olfactory sensory processing.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10016081
- **Project number:** 5F31DC018459-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER
- **Principal Investigator:** Nicholas M George
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $26,216
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-09-01 → 2021-05-17

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10016081

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10016081, Investigating axonal and glial adaptations to sensory manipulations in the olfactory system (5F31DC018459-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-01 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10016081. Licensed CC0.

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