WOLFRAM|DEMONSTRATIONS PROJECT

Orbit Spectral Density in Olfactory Signal Processing

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isoamyl acetate [mmol]
130
limonene [mmol]
30
camphor [mmol]
12
air [Ml]
1
number of intervals
800
ordering intervals by
none
value
orbits
odorant
Spiking frequency of neurons in the mammalian olfactory epithelium is modulated by the concentrations of basic odorant molecules. A mix of several millimols of basic odorants, such as isoamyl acetate, limonene, or camphor, dispersed in Megaliters of air constitutes an olfactory stimulant perceived by the brain as a scent. The epithelium communicates the olfactory information by adjusting interspike intervals in neural signals. The overall interspike interval distribution encodes the information in myriads of neural spikings. A much-compacted representation of the information is the orbit spectral density derived from the spiking distribution.