The influence of stimulus duration on olfactory identity

Abstract

Duration of a stimulus plays an important role in coding of sensory information. The role of stimulus duration is extensively studied in tactile, visual and auditory system. In the olfactory system, how the stimulus duration influences the identity of an olfactory information is not well understood. To test this, we activated the olfactory bulbs with blue light in mice expressing channelrhodopsin and behaviorally assessed the relevance of stimulus duration on olfactory identity. Our behavior data demonstrate that stimulus duration changes the olfactory information and the associated behavior.