Heterogeneous effects of norepinephrine on spontaneous and stimulus-driven activity in the male accessory olfactory bulb

In vivo spontaneous activity and coital-evoked inhibition of mouse accessory olfactory bulb output neurons

Little is known about estrous effects on brain microcircuits. We examined the accessory olfactory bulb (AOB) in vivo, in anesthetized naturally cycling females, as model microcircuit receiving coital somatosensory information. Whole-cell recordings demonstrate that output neurons are relatively hyperpolarized in estrus and unexpectedly fire high frequency bursts of action potentials. To mimic coitus, a calibrated artificial vagino-cervical stimulation (aVCS) protocol was devised. aVCS evoked stimulus-locked local field responses in the interneuron layer independent of estrous stage. The response is sensitive to α1-adrenergic receptor blockade, as expected since aVCS increases norepinephrine release in AOB. Intriguingly, only in estrus does aVCS inhibit AOB spike output. Estrus-specific output reduction coincides with prolonged aVCS activation of inhibitory interneurons. Accordingly, in estrus the AOB microcircuit sets the stage for coital stimulation to inhibit the output neurons, possibly via high frequency bursting-dependent enhancement of reciprocal synapse efficacy between inter- and output neurons.

The Bruce effect: Representational stability and memory formation in the accessory olfactory bulb of the female mouse

In the Bruce effect, a mated female mouse becomes resistant to the pregnancy-blocking effect of the stud. Various lines of evidence suggest that this form of behavioral imprinting results from reduced sensitivity of the female's accessory olfactory bulb (AOB) to the stud's chemosignals. However, the AOB's combinatorial code implies that diminishing responses to one individual will distort representations of other stimuli. Here, we record extracellular responses of AOB neurons in mated and unmated female mice while presenting urine stimuli from the stud and from other sources. We find that, while initial sensory responses in the AOB (within a timescale required to guide social interactions) remain stable, responses to extended stimulation (as required for eliciting the pregnancy block) display selective attenuation of stud-responsive neurons. Such temporal disassociation could allow attenuation of slow-acting endocrine processes in a stimulus-specific manner without compromising ongoing representations that guide behavior.

Context-dependent relationships between locus coeruleus firing patterns and coordinated neural activity in the anterior cingulate cortex

Ascending neuromodulatory projections from the locus coeruleus (LC) affect cortical neural networks via the release of norepinephrine (NE). However, the exact nature of these neuromodulatory effects on neural activity patterns in vivo is not well understood. Here, we show that in awake monkeys, LC activation is associated with changes in coordinated activity patterns in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). These relationships, which are largely independent of changes in firing rates of individual ACC neurons, depend on the type of LC activation: ACC pairwise correlations tend to be reduced when ongoing (baseline) LC activity increases but enhanced when external events evoke transient LC responses. Both relationships covary with pupil changes that reflect LC activation and arousal. These results suggest that modulations of information processing that reflect changes in coordinated activity patterns in cortical networks can result partly from ongoing, context-dependent, arousal-related changes in activation of the LC-NE system.

Principles of odor coding in vertebrates and artificial chemosensory systems

The biological olfactory system is the sensory system responsible for the detection of the chemical composition of the environment. Several attempts to mimic biological olfactory systems have led to various artificial olfactory systems using different technical approaches. Here we provide a parallel description of biological olfactory systems and their technical counterparts. We start with a presentation of the input to the systems, the stimuli, and treat the interface between the external world and the environment where receptor neurons or artificial chemosensors reside. We then delineate the functions of receptor neurons and chemosensors as well as their overall I-O relationships. Up to this point, our account of the systems goes along similar lines. The next processing steps differ considerably: while in biology the processing step following the receptor neurons is the "integration" and "processing" of receptor neuron outputs in the olfactory bulb, this step has various realizations in electronic noses. For a long period of time, the signal processing stages beyond the olfactory bulb, i.e., the higher olfactory centers were little studied. Only recently there has been a marked growth of studies tackling the information processing in these centers. In electronic noses, a third stage of processing has virtually never been considered. In this review, we provide an up-to-date overview of the current knowledge of both fields and, for the first time, attempt to tie them together. We hope it will be a breeding ground for better information, communication, and data exchange between very related but so far little connected fields.

Paradoxically Sparse Chemosensory Tuning in Broadly Integrating External Granule Cells in the Mouse Accessory Olfactory Bulb

The accessory olfactory bulb (AOB), the first neural circuit in the mouse accessory olfactory system, is critical for interpreting social chemosignals. Despite its importance, AOB information processing is poorly understood compared with the main olfactory bulb (MOB). Here, we sought to fill gaps in the understanding of AOB interneuron function. We used 2-photon GCaMP6f Ca2+ imaging in an ex vivo preparation to study chemosensory tuning in AOB external granule cells (EGCs), interneurons hypothesized to broadly inhibit activity in excitatory mitral cells (MCs). In ex vivo preparations from mice of both sexes, we measured MC and EGC tuning to natural chemosignal blends and monomolecular ligands, finding that EGC tuning was sparser, not broader, than upstream MCs. Simultaneous electrophysiological recording and Ca2+ imaging showed no differences in GCaMP6f-to-spiking relationships in these cell types during simulated sensory stimulation, suggesting that measured EGC sparseness was not due to cell type-dependent variability in GCaMP6f performance. Ex vivo patch-clamp recordings revealed that EGC subthreshold responsivity was far broader than indicated by GCaMP6f Ca2+ imaging, and that monomolecular ligands rarely elicited EGC spiking. These results indicate that EGCs are selectively engaged by chemosensory blends, suggesting different roles for EGCs than analogous interneurons in the MOB.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The mouse accessory olfactory system (AOS) interprets social chemosignals, but we poorly understand AOS information processing. Here, we investigate the functional properties of external granule cells (EGCs), a major class of interneurons in the accessory olfactory bulb (AOB). We hypothesized that EGCs, which are densely innervated by excitatory mitral cells (MCs), would show broad chemosensory tuning, suggesting a role in divisive normalization. Using ex vivo GCaMP6f imaging, we found that EGCs were instead more sparsely tuned than MCs. This was not due to weaker GCaMP6f signaling in EGCs than in MCs. Instead, we found that many MC-activating chemosignals caused only subthreshold EGC responses. This indicates a different role for AOB EGCs compared with analogous cells in the main olfactory bulb.

Signal Detection and Coding in the Accessory Olfactory System

In many mammalian species, the accessory olfactory system plays a central role in guiding behavioral and physiological responses to social and reproductive interactions. Because of its relatively compact structure and its direct access to amygdalar and hypothalamic nuclei, the accessory olfactory pathway provides an ideal system to study sensory control of complex mammalian behavior. During the last several years, many studies employing molecular, behavioral, and physiological approaches have significantly expanded and enhanced our understanding of this system. The purpose of the current review is to integrate older and newer studies to present an updated and comprehensive picture of vomeronasal signaling and coding with an emphasis on early accessory olfactory system processing stages. These include vomeronasal sensory neurons in the vomeronasal organ, and the circuitry of the accessory olfactory bulb. Because the overwhelming majority of studies on accessory olfactory system function employ rodents, this review is largely focused on this phylogenetic order, and on mice in particular. Taken together, the emerging view from both older literature and more recent studies is that the molecular, cellular, and circuit properties of chemosensory signaling along the accessory olfactory pathway are in many ways unique. Yet, it has also become evident that, like the main olfactory system, the accessory olfactory system also has the capacity for adaptive learning, experience, and state-dependent plasticity. In addition to describing what is currently known about accessory olfactory system function and physiology, we highlight what we believe are important gaps in our knowledge, which thus define exciting directions for future investigation.

The Accessory Olfactory System: Innately Specialized or Microcosm of Mammalian Circuitry?

In mammals, the accessory olfactory system is a distinct circuit that has received attention for its role in detecting and responding to pheromones. While the neuroscientific investigation of this system is comparatively new, recent advances and its compact size have made it an attractive model for developing an end-to-end understanding of such questions as regulation of essential behaviors, plasticity, and individual recognition. Recent discoveries have indicated a need to reevaluate our conception of this system, suggesting that ( a) physical principles—rather than biological necessity—play an underappreciated role in its raison d'être and that ( b) the anatomy of downstream projections is not dominated by unique specializations but instead consists of an abbreviated cortical/basal ganglia motif reminiscent of other sensorimotor systems. These observations suggest that the accessory olfactory system distinguishes itself primarily by the physicochemical properties of its ligands, but its architecture is otherwise a microcosm of mammalian neurocircuitry.

α2-Adrenergic receptor activation promotes long-term potentiation at excitatory synapses in the mouse accessory olfactory bulb

The formation of mate recognition memory in mice is associated with neural changes at the reciprocal dendrodendritic synapses between glutamatergic mitral cell (MC) projection neurons and GABAergic granule cell (GC) interneurons in the accessory olfactory bulb (AOB). Although noradrenaline (NA) plays a critical role in the formation of the memory, the mechanism by which it exerts this effect remains unclear. Here we used extracellular field potential and whole-cell patch-clamp recordings to assess the actions of bath-applied NA (10 µM) on the glutamatergic transmission and its plasticity at the MC-to-GC synapse in the AOB. Stimulation (400 stimuli) of MC axons at 10 Hz but not at 100 Hz effectively induced N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor-dependent long-term potentiation (LTP), which exhibited reversibility. NA paired with subthreshold 10-Hz stimulation (200 stimuli) facilitated the induction of NMDA receptor-dependent LTP via the activation of α₂-adrenergic receptors (ARs). We next examined how NA, acting at α₂-ARs, facilitates LTP induction. In terms of acute actions, NA suppressed GC excitatory postsynaptic current (EPSC) responses to single pulse stimulation of MC axons by reducing glutamate release from MCs via G-protein coupled inhibition of calcium channels. Consequently, NA reduced recurrent inhibition of MCs, resulting in the enhancement of evoked EPSCs and spike fidelity in GCs during the 10-Hz stimulation used to induce LTP. These results suggest that NA, acting at α₂-ARs, facilitates the induction of NMDA receptor-dependent LTP at the MC-to-GC synapse by shifting its threshold through disinhibition of MCs.

Octopamine Underlies the Counter-Regulatory Response to a Glucose Deficit in Honeybees (Apis mellifera)

An animal’s internal state is a critical parameter required for adaptation to a given environment. An important aspect of an animal’s internal state is the energy state that is adjusted to the needs of an animal by energy homeostasis. Glucose is one essential source of energy, especially for the brain. A shortage of glucose therefore triggers a complex response to restore the animal’s glucose supply. This counter-regulatory response to a glucose deficit includes metabolic responses like the mobilization of glucose from internal glucose stores and behavioral responses like increased foraging and a rapid intake of food. In mammals, the catecholamines adrenalin and noradrenalin take part in mediating these counter-regulatory responses to a glucose deficit. One candidate molecule that might play a role in these processes in insects is octopamine (OA). It is an invertebrate biogenic amine and has been suggested to derive from an ancestral pathway shared with adrenalin and noradrenalin. Thus, it could be hypothesized that OA plays a role in the insect’s counter-regulatory response to a glucose deficit. Here we tested this hypothesis in the honeybee (Apis mellifera), an insect that, as an adult, mainly feeds on carbohydrates and uses these as its main source of energy. We investigated alterations of the hemolymph glucose concentration, survival, and feeding behavior after starvation and examined the impact of OA on these processes in pharmacological experiments. We demonstrate an involvement of OA in these three processes in honeybees and conclude there is an involvement of OA in regulating a bee’s metabolic, physiological, and behavioral response following a phase of prolonged glucose deficit. Thus, OA in honeybees acts similarly to adrenalin and noradrenalin in mammals in regulating an animal’s counter-regulatory response.