Perceptual convergence of multi-component mixtures in olfaction implies an olfactory white

Weiss, Tali; Snitz, Kobi; Yablonka, Adi; Khan, Rehan; Gafsou, Danyel; Schneidman, Elad; Sobel, Noam

doi:10.1073/pnas.1208110109

Cited by 133 publications

(139 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…In each of five trials, subjects activated three scratch-and-sniff microencapsulated odorant stickers (1 square inch), two containing an identical mixture of 20 components, and one containing a different yet perceptually similar mixture of 20 components (these odorant mixtures were different versions of olfactory white as in Ref. [34]). Order of odorants was counter-balanced.…”

Section: Experiments 3: Field Olfactory Discrimination Taskmentioning

confidence: 99%

Disinhibition of olfaction: Human olfactory performance improves following low levels of alcohol

Endevelt‐Shapira

Shushan

Roth

et al. 2014

Behavioural Brain Research

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Section: Experiments 3: Field Olfactory Discrimination Taskmentioning

confidence: 99%

Disinhibition of olfaction: Human olfactory performance improves following low levels of alcohol

Endevelt‐Shapira

Shushan

Roth

et al. 2014

Behavioural Brain Research

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“…5A). Experimental studies report similar numbers, e.g., s max ≈ 15 (36) and s max < 30 (6). However, Fig.…”

Section: Optimal Receptormentioning

confidence: 89%

“…For example, humans have about 300 distinct olfactory receptors (4), which can sense at least 2,100 odorant molecules (5), and the real number might be much larger (1). Moreover, humans can differentiate between mixtures of up to 30 odorants (6). Such remarkable molecular discrimination is thought to use a combinatorial code (7,8), where typical odorant molecules bind to receptors of multiple types (1,3).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Receptor arrays optimized for natural odor statistics

Zwicker

Murugan

Brenner

2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Natural odors typically consist of many molecules at different concentrations. It is unclear how the numerous odorant molecules and their possible mixtures are discriminated by relatively few olfactory receptors. Using an information theoretic model, we show that a receptor array is optimal for this task if it achieves two possibly conflicting goals: (i) Each receptor should respond to half of all odors and (ii) the response of different receptors should be uncorrelated when averaged over odors presented with natural statistics. We use these design principles to predict statistics of the affinities between receptors and odorant molecules for a broad class of odor statistics. We also show that optimal receptor arrays can be tuned to either resolve concentrations well or distinguish mixtures reliably. Finally, we use our results to predict properties of experimentally measured receptor arrays. Our work can thus be used to better understand natural olfaction, and it also suggests ways to improve artificial sensor arrays.iscrimination of olfactory signals occurs in a high-dimensional space of odor stimuli in which a large number of distinct molecules and their mixtures can be distinguished by a much smaller number of receptors (1-3). For example, humans have about 300 distinct olfactory receptors (4), which can sense at least 2,100 odorant molecules (5), and the real number might be much larger (1). Moreover, humans can differentiate between mixtures of up to 30 odorants (6). Such remarkable molecular discrimination is thought to use a combinatorial code (7,8), where typical odorant molecules bind to receptors of multiple types (1, 3). Each receptor type is expressed in many cells (9), and the information from all receptors of the same type is accumulated in corresponding glomeruli in the olfactory bulb (10, 11) (see Fig. 1A). The activity of a single glomerulus is thus the total signal of the associated receptor type, so the information about the odor is encoded in the activity pattern of the glomeruli (11,12). This activity pattern is interpreted by the brain to learn about the composition and the concentration of the inhaled odor. We here study how receptor arrays can maximize the transmitted information.It is known (13, 14) that the input−output characteristics of sensory apparatuses of many organisms are tailored to the statistics of the organism's natural environment to maximize information transmission. For example, in the visual circuit of the fly, the input−output relationship of neurons is matched to the cumulative distribution of the input distribution (13). Similar observations have since been made in many sensory systems (14, 15) and even in transcriptional regulation (16). In all these cases, the distinguishable outputs of the sensory system must be dedicated to equal parts of the input distribution, which is known as Laughlin's principle (13) or histogram equalization (17). Intuitively, more of the response range is dedicated to common stimuli, at the expense of less frequent stimuli (13).Similarly, t...

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“…We are not aware, of any test of olfactory STM so far that has controled for sensory differences in the training set (cf. Weiss et al, 2012).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Such compositionality in olfaction would open commercial applications such as in the perfume industry or in smellies, films with accompanying olfactory stimuli. As one of the few to demonstrate this compositionality principle, Weiss et al (2012) found that olfactory white can be produced from the composition of around thirty odorants that spanned the perceptual space.…”

Section: Perceptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding smell—The olfactory stimulus problem

Auffarth

2013

Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews

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Please cite this article as: Auffarth, B., Understanding smell -the olfactory stimulus problem, Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews (2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2013.06.009. This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.Page 1 of 27 A c c e p t e d M a n u s c r i p t -For the olfactory system, a topographic organization is disputed. -However, work on different species suggests a topography in olfaction.-We compare other modalities such as taste and color vision.-We discuss the utility of a categorization of smell perception. *Highlights (for review)Page 2 of 27 A c c e p t e d M a n u s c r i p t 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews The main problem with sensory processing is the difficulty in relating sensory input to physiological responses and perception. This is especially problematic at higher levels of processing, where complex cues elicit highly specific responses. In olfaction, this relationship is particularly obfuscated by the difficulty of characterizing stimulus statistics and perception. The core questions in olfaction are hence the so-called stimulus problem, which refers to the understanding of the stimulus, and the structure-activity and structure-odor relationships, which refer to the molecular basis of smell. It is widely accepted that the recognition of odorants by receptors is governed by the detection of physico-chemical properties and that the physical space is highly complex. Not surprisingly, ideas differ about how odor stimuli should be classified and about the very nature of information that the brain extracts from odors. Even though there are many measures for smell, there is none that accurately describes all aspects of it. Here, we summarize recent developments in the understanding of olfaction. We argue that an approach to olfactory function where information processing is emphasized could contribute to a high degree to our understanding of smell as a perceptual phenomenon emerging from neural computations. Further, we argue that combined analysis of the stimulus, biology, physiology, and behavior and perception can provide new insights into olfactory function. We hope that the reader can use this review as a competent guide and overview of research activities in olfactory physiology, psychophysics, computation, and psychology. We propose avenues for research, particularly in the systematic characteriza...

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Perceptual convergence of multi-component mixtures in olfaction implies an olfactory white

Cited by 133 publications

References 32 publications

Disinhibition of olfaction: Human olfactory performance improves following low levels of alcohol

Disinhibition of olfaction: Human olfactory performance improves following low levels of alcohol

Receptor arrays optimized for natural odor statistics

Understanding smell—The olfactory stimulus problem

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