July 22, 2017
Srinivas’ and Mahmut’s paper shows how Olfactory Receptor Neurons (ORNs) in the fruit fly can adapt to the mean and variance of dynamic odor signals. Insects like the fruit fly find sources of food and mates using their sense of smell, navigating complex odor landscapes where the statistics of odor signals changes rapidly and unpredictably. Their paper characterizes how ORNs encode odor signals under these conditions, and reveals a novel kinetic compensatory mechanism that allows ORNs to maintain the timing of odor encounters, even though adaptation slows down their initial response.
External link: