Abstract
To understand how chemoreceptor organs may extract temporal information from odor plumes, we investigated the frequency filter properties of lobster chemoreceptor cells. We used rapid stimulation and high-resolution stimulus measurement for accurate stimulus control and recorded extracellular responses from chemoreceptors in the lobster lateral antennule in situ. We tested 16 hydroxyproline-sensitive cells with a series of ten 100-ms pulses at 10, 100 and 1000 μmol l−1 at stimulation frequencies from 0.5 Hz to 4 Hz. Receptor cell responses could accurately encode 10 μmol l−1, but not 100 or 1000 μmol l−1 pulses, delivered at rates of 4 Hz. Flicker-fusion frequency and synchronization with the stimulus pulse train were concentration dependent: performance rates above 1 Hz became poorer both with increasing pulse amplitude and frequency. Flicker fusion frequency was 3 Hz for 100 μmol l−1 pulses and 2 Hz for 1000 μmol l−1 pulses. Individual cells showed differences in their stimulus pulse following capabilities, as measured by the synchronization coefficient. These individual differences may form a basis for coding temporal features of an odor plume in an across-fiber pattern.
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Accepted: 7 July 1999
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Gomez, G., Voigt, R. & Atema, J. Temporal resolution in olfaction III: flicker fusion and concentration-dependent synchronization with stimulus pulse trains of antennular chemoreceptor cells in the American lobster. J Comp Physiol A 185, 427–436 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1007/s003590050403
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s003590050403