# Complex Odor Recognition of the Main Olfactory Bulb

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER · 2022 · $437,079

## Abstract

Project Summary
Oscillations in the brain, spanning several orders of magnitude in frequency range, may form a system that
provides a syntactical framework for packaging information into `neuronal letters, words and sentences' (4).
Olfaction is arguably at the forefront of understanding the role of oscillations in sensory perception (6-18).
Indeed, studies in awake behaving animals show efficient odor quality coding by tiling of the response on the
sniff phase (21-24). However, as indicated by Uchida and co-workers (14), whether tiling in the oscillatory
phase does code for odor quality, or intensity at a certain frequency of firing, is still open to question.
Interestingly, oscillations likely play a role in conveying information on odor valence. Indeed, it has been
proposed that OB  oscillations are associated with higher cognitive processes, such as making choices or
initiating actions and convey information relevant for olfactory learning (16). Thus, while the olfactory system
is arguably at the forefront of understanding the role of oscillations in sensory systems, there is a need to
understand the precise role of these oscillations in conveying information on odorant features and valence in
the OB.
We have identified a major gap in understanding neural oscillations in the OB. We postulate that, phase
amplitude coupling (PAC) of the  oscillations in the  cycle, described in the OB by Rojas-Libano and co-
workers (25), likely plays a role in transfer of sensory and valence information. We will test the hypothesis that
tiling of fast oscillatory response of MCs along the phase of the slower  oscillations, conveys odor information
critical for odor discrimination and learning and we will determine whether different types of information are
carried at different frequency bandwidths ( vs. low or high ).
Aim 1. Awake behaving closed loop optogenetic experiments to test the hypothesis that phase
amplitude coupling facilitates olfactory discrimination.
Aim 2. Test the hypothesis that transient within-trial increase in the activity of noradrenergic
axons in the olfactory bulb modulate oscillatory M/T cell responsiveness resulting in enhanced
discrimination of sensory input.
Aim 3. Test the hypothesis that phase coupled stimulation of mitral cells at different
bandwidths carry different types of odorant information.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10395461
- **Project number:** 5R01DC000566-33
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER
- **Principal Investigator:** Diego Restrepo
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $437,079
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1988-12-12 → 2024-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10395461

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10395461, Complex Odor Recognition of the Main Olfactory Bulb (5R01DC000566-33). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10395461. Licensed CC0.

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