Modeling Of Odor Information Processing

in the Human Brain

Student: Chad N. Antoine

Project Goal

 We propose to design the neural network olfactory bulb simulator in order to understand the processing of odorant molecular information. In this task the challenge is three-fold:

a) How is the information relevant to a single odor, namely its constituent odorant molecules and their mixing ratios, encoded into a spatio-temporal pattern of neural activity in the olfactory bulb?

b) How is the spatio-temporal pattern relevant to each odor generated in the neural network of the olfactory bulb under application of the odor and how is the pattern memorized temporally in the bulb?

c) By what kind of dynamic process is the recognition of an odor induced in the bulb network?