This Article Full Text (OnlineFirst PDF) All Versions of this Article: 1073858408315026v1 14/3/251    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Cummings, D. M. Articles by Belluscio, L. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Cummings, D. M. Articles by Belluscio, L. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Charting Plasticity in the Regenerating Maps of the Mammalian Olfactory Bulb

Developmental Neural Plasticity Unit, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: belluscl{at}ninds.nih.gov.

	Abstract

The anatomical organization of a neural system can offer a glimpse into its functional logic. The basic premise is that by understanding how something is put together one can figure out how it works. Unfortunately, organization is not always represented purely at an anatomical level and is sometimes best revealed through molecular or functional studies. The mammalian olfactory system exhibits organizational features at all these levels including 1) anatomically distinct structural layers in the olfactory bulb, 2) molecular maps based upon odorant receptor expression, and 3) functional local circuits giving rise to odor columns that provide a contextual logic for an intrabulbar map. In addition, various forms of cellular plasticity have been shown to play an integral role in shaping the structural properties of most neural systems and must be considered when assessing each system’s anatomical organization. Interestingly, the olfactory system invokes an added level of complexity for understanding organization in that it regenerates both at the peripheral and the central levels. Thus, olfaction offers a rare opportunity to study both the structural and the functional properties of a regenerating sensory system in direct response to environmental stimuli. In this review, we discuss neural organization in the form of maps and explore the relationship between regeneration and plasticity. NEUROSCIENTIST XX(X):xx–xx, XXXX. DOI: 10.1177/1073858408315026

First published on April 17, 2008, doi:10.1177/1073858408315026

The Neuroscientist 2008;14:251.

A more recent version of this article appeared on June 1, 2008


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?