Data from: Perception of odors linked to precise timing in the olfactory system

While the timing of neuronal activity in the olfactory bulb (OB) relative to sniffing has been the object of many studies, the behavioral relevance of timing information generated by patterned activation within the bulbar response has not been explored. Here we show, using sniff-triggered, dynamic, 2-D, optogenetic stimulation of mitral/tufted cells, that virtual odors that differ by as little as 13 ms are distinguishable by mice. Further, mice are capable of discriminating a virtual odor movie based on an optically imaged OB odor response versus the same virtual odor devoid of temporal dynamics—independently of the sniff-phase. Together with studies showing the behavioral relevance of graded glomerular responses and the response timing relative to odor sampling, these results imply that the mammalian olfactory system is capable of very high transient information transmission rates.尽管学界已围绕嗅球（olfactory bulb, OB）神经元活动相对于嗅探行为的时序特征开展了大量研究，但嗅球内模式化激活所产生的时序信息的行为学相关性仍未得到探索。本研究通过嗅探触发式动态二维光遗传刺激僧帽/簇状细胞，证实小鼠可区分时长差异仅为13毫秒的虚拟气味。此外，小鼠能够区分基于光学成像嗅球气味响应构建的虚拟气味视频，与不含时间动态特征的同款虚拟气味，且该区分能力不依赖于嗅探相位。结合此前关于分级嗅球肾小球响应及气味采样相关响应时序的行为学相关性研究，本研究结果提示哺乳动物嗅觉系统可实现极高的瞬时信息传输速率。