THE INHIBITORY SYSTEMS IN THE OLFACTORY BULB STUDIED BY INTRACELLULAR RECORDING

Abstract

Responses of the olfactory buffi) neurons to electrical stimulation of the lateral olfactory tract (LOT), olfactory mucosa and anterior commissure (AC) were studied in rabbits immobilized with Flaxedil. LOT stimulation generated antidromic firing in the mitral cell followed by the inhibitory postsynaptic potential (IPSP). The deep layer cells discharged, often rhythmically, to a LOT shock. The mitral cell responded to olfactory mucosa stimulation with spike firings and/or the IPSP. This stimulation also excited the deep layer cells. Upon repetitive stimulation the AC generated the IPSP in the mitral cells and destroyed the IPSP produced by a LOT shock. A small number of the deep layer cells were activated but most of them were inhibited by AC stimulation. The neuronal pathways participating in generation and abolition of the IPSP''s were discussed.