Title: Temporal Constraints on Sensory Integration
in the Olfactory System
Zach Mainen
Abstract:
The olfactory system displays intrinsic neural dynamics over a wide
range of time scales that have been suggested to participate in coding odor
quality. To determine the time scales that are relevant to behavior, we
measured the speed and accuracy of olfactory discrimination psychophysically in
rats. Surprisingly, subjects used short odor sampling times not only for easy
discriminations but even when pushed to perceptual limits using binary
mixtures. Only about 200 ms, corresponding to one inhalation, was required for
maximum accuracy, regardless of difficulty. Thus, each sniff may be considered
a complete image or snapshot of the olfactory world.