# Odor-directed attention and the medial prefrontal cortex

> **NIH NIH F32** · UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA · 2021 · $68,562

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Attention is a critical executive function. Attention adaptively shapes sensory information in the brain such that
signals associated with relevant cues are enhanced. In some sensory systems, this is accomplished by top-
down inputs from the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) to the sensory thalamus, which ultimately results in
attentional modulation of sensory representations within sensory cortex. While it was once proposed that the
lack of thalamic relay within the olfactory system might indicate that attention could not be directed to odors, it is
now clear that odor-directed attention does occur and may involve modulation of the olfactory cortex. For
example, odor-responsive neurons in the olfactory tubercle (OT), one olfactory cortex region, exhibit enhanced
odor signal-to-noise during attention in a manner that may facilitate odor perception. Still, the neural mechanisms
underlying attention-dependent changes in odor representations are completely unknown. Because odor
information is not processed by the thalamus before arriving at the OT, studying attentional modulation of odor
information among these neurons will reveal novel insights into mechanisms of top-down attention in the brain.
This project will use rodents to identify circuits integral for selective attention to odors using in vivo calcium
imaging and optogenetic approaches in the context of a cutting-edge attention paradigm. Given the attentional
modulation of OT single unit responses, and the importance of the mPFC for attention, this project will focus on
the direct projection from the mPFC into the OT. First, this project will define attention-dependent responses in
specific populations of OT-projecting mPFC neurons by monitoring aggregate calcium signals in the context of
selective attention to odors. Next, optogenetic perturbation of these same populations will determine the
behavioral relevance of OT-projecting mPFC neurons for selective attention to odors. Ultimately, the outcomes
of this project will identify top-down neural circuits that orchestrate the effects of attention on odor processing
and perception.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10200762
- **Project number:** 5F32DC018232-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
- **Principal Investigator:** Hillary Lauren Cansler
- **Activity code:** F32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $68,562
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-07-01 → 2022-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10200762

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10200762, Odor-directed attention and the medial prefrontal cortex (5F32DC018232-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10200762. Licensed CC0.

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