<p>According to Kay and Stopfer (2006) in their paper, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.semcdb.2006.04.012" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Information processing in the olfactory systems of insects and vertebrates</a>, it looks as though oscillatory firing patterns in insects fire as a mechanism for categorizing <em>all smells, novel and familiar:</em></p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Several imaging techniques that assess afferent or principal neuron 
  responses all indicate that odor stimulation evokes maps of activity 
  that vary with the odorant; not all odorants activate all glomeruli and principal neurons.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>More specifically:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>In both insects and vertebrates, odor stimulation elicits the oscillatory synchronization of responsive principal neurons.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Note that no distinction is being made here between <em>novel and familiar</em> olfactory stimuli. It seems that much of the research on novel olfactory stimuli as related to olfactory bulb firing patterns has been done on vertebrates, as discussed <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/0031-9384(94)90205-4" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here.</a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-10-14T04:41:41.647Z
2017-10-14T04:41:41.647Z
optimizedp
<p><a href="https://github.com/ctn-waterloo/modelling_ideas/issues/18" rel="nofollow noreferrer">I've heard anecdotally</a>, that the cockroach olfactory bulb responds differently to novel stimuli vs. known stimuli. Specifically, it sends an oscillatory firing pattern for known stimuli and a constant firing pattern for novel stimuli. However, I'm having a hard time finding a reference for this? Does the olfactory bulb in insects (not just cockroaches) actually respond with different firing patterns?</p>

<cognitive-neuroscience><reference-request>
Cockroach olfactory bulb response to novel stimuli
Seanny123
# Cockroach olfactory bulb response to novel stimuli

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-10-11)

[I've heard anecdotally](https://github.com/ctn-waterloo/modelling_ideas/issues/18), that the cockroach olfactory bulb responds differently to novel stimuli vs. known stimuli. Specifically, it sends an oscillatory firing pattern for known stimuli and a constant firing pattern for novel stimuli. However, I'm having a hard time finding a reference for this? Does the olfactory bulb in insects (not just cockroaches) actually respond with different firing patterns?

**Tags:** cognitive-neuroscience, reference-request


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2017-10-14. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

According to Kay and Stopfer (2006) in their paper, [Information processing in the olfactory systems of insects and vertebrates](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.semcdb.2006.04.012), it looks as though oscillatory firing patterns in insects fire as a mechanism for categorizing *all smells, novel and familiar:*

> Several imaging techniques that assess afferent or principal neuron
> responses all indicate that odor stimulation evokes maps of activity
> that vary with the odorant; not all odorants activate all glomeruli and principal neurons.

More specifically:

> In both insects and vertebrates, odor stimulation elicits the oscillatory synchronization of responsive principal neurons.

Note that no distinction is being made here between *novel and familiar* olfactory stimuli. It seems that much of the research on novel olfactory stimuli as related to olfactory bulb firing patterns has been done on vertebrates, as discussed [here.](https://doi.org/10.1016/0031-9384(94)90205-4)


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