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Representational drift in primary olfactory cortex

Author

Listed:
  • Carl E. Schoonover

    (Columbia University)

  • Sarah N. Ohashi

    (Columbia University
    Yale School of Medicine)

  • Richard Axel

    (Columbia University)

  • Andrew J. P. Fink

    (Columbia University)

Abstract

Perceptual constancy requires the brain to maintain a stable representation of sensory input. In the olfactory system, activity in primary olfactory cortex (piriform cortex) is thought to determine odour identity1–5. Here we present the results of electrophysiological recordings of single units maintained over weeks to examine the stability of odour-evoked responses in mouse piriform cortex. Although activity in piriform cortex could be used to discriminate between odorants at any moment in time, odour-evoked responses drifted over periods of days to weeks. The performance of a linear classifier trained on the first recording day approached chance levels after 32 days. Fear conditioning did not stabilize odour-evoked responses. Daily exposure to the same odorant slowed the rate of drift, but when exposure was halted the rate increased again. This demonstration of continuous drift poses the question of the role of piriform cortex in odour perception. This instability might reflect the unstructured connectivity of piriform cortex6–12, and may be a property of other unstructured cortices.

Suggested Citation

  • Carl E. Schoonover & Sarah N. Ohashi & Richard Axel & Andrew J. P. Fink, 2021. "Representational drift in primary olfactory cortex," Nature, Nature, vol. 594(7864), pages 541-546, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:594:y:2021:i:7864:d:10.1038_s41586-021-03628-7
    DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-03628-7
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    Cited by:

    1. Hannah Muysers & Hung-Ling Chen & Johannes Hahn & Shani Folschweiller & Torfi Sigurdsson & Jonas-Frederic Sauer & Marlene Bartos, 2024. "A persistent prefrontal reference frame across time and task rules," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-14, December.
    2. Geoffrey Terral & Evan Harrell & Gabriel Lepousez & Yohan Wards & Dinghuang Huang & Tiphaine Dolique & Giulio Casali & Antoine Nissant & Pierre-Marie Lledo & Guillaume Ferreira & Giovanni Marsicano & , 2024. "Endogenous cannabinoids in the piriform cortex tune olfactory perception," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-17, December.
    3. Han Chin Wang & Amy M. LeMessurier & Daniel E. Feldman, 2022. "Tuning instability of non-columnar neurons in the salt-and-pepper whisker map in somatosensory cortex," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-18, December.
    4. Ravi Pancholi & Lauren Ryan & Simon Peron, 2023. "Learning in a sensory cortical microstimulation task is associated with elevated representational stability," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-14, December.
    5. Alexandra T. Keinath & Coralie-Anne Mosser & Mark P. Brandon, 2022. "The representation of context in mouse hippocampus is preserved despite neural drift," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-11, December.
    6. P. Dylan Rich & Stephan Yves Thiberge & Benjamin B. Scott & Caiying Guo & D. Gowanlock R. Tervo & Carlos D. Brody & Alla Y. Karpova & Nathaniel D. Daw & David W. Tank, 2024. "Magnetic voluntary head-fixation in transgenic rats enables lifespan imaging of hippocampal neurons," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-13, December.

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