Lectures

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2007/11/13

16:00-17:30   Room #052 (Graduate School of Math. Sci. Bldg.)
Jens Starke (Technical University of Denmark)
Modelling the olfactory system: From receptor neuron dynamics over axonal pathfinding and sorting to spatio-temporal activities in the bulb
[ Abstract ]
The olfactory system of e.g. mice serves as important model case for other brain regions. The odor signals are processed from receptor neurons over the glomeruli level to a neural network of mitral and granular cells while various types of nonlinear behaviour can be observed.

(1) Nonlinear dynamics in receptor neurons:
A mathematical model for Ca oscillations in the cilia of olfactory
sensory neurons is suggested and analyzed. The existence of an oscillatory regime based on a Hopf bifurcation is proven using stoichiometric network analysis where the knowledge of exact parameters is not required. Predictions of the model are in quantitative agreement with experiment, both with respect to oscillations and to fast adaptation.

(2) Sorting by self-organization:
A many particle model with attracting and repulsive interactions is proposed which is able to reproduce the experimental findings of sorting and convergence during axonal pathfinding in the olfactory system. Many axon species, each represented by a huge number of axons, are spatially disordered at the beginning of their growth at the receptor neurons and converge by a self-organized process to a sorted state, i.e. axons of the same receptor type converge to a common position. Under certain model assumptions, it can be proved that the interacting many-particle system of different particle types converges to a sorted state.

(3) Spatio-temporal pattern formation in the olfactory bulb:
Odors evoke a variety of stimulus specific spatio-temporal patterns on the levels of glomeruli and neural network of mitral and granular cells in the olfactory bulb which can be measured in vivo using Ca and voltage sensitive dyes for optical imaging. A spatial independent component analysis of this high-resolution imaging data was used to identify and separate different neuronal populations based on their stimulus specific spatio-temporal activation. Equation-free techniques were used to obtain bifurcation diagramms for the network activity. First, contrast enhancement between several spatially close activations depending on the network topology and second, hysteres effects in recognition of differences between similar odorants depending on the concentration ratios of odorant mixtures.

This is in parts joint work with P. Borowski, M. Eiswirth, C. Ellsaesser, A. Grinvald, N. Hummel, S. Kokkendorff, D. Omer, J. Reidl, H. Spors, J. Strotmann, M. Zapotocky.