Search bioRxiv⌕ Search

Biology subjects

Castro, J. B.

Publications and source records attributed to Castro, J. B..

2 recordsLinked to original sources

Pyrfume: A Window to the World's Olfactory Data

Advances in theoretical understanding are frequently unlocked by access to large, diverse experimental datasets. Olfactory neuroscience and psychophysics remain years behind the other senses in part because rich datasets linking olfactory stimuli with their corresponding percepts, behaviors, and neural pathways underlying this transformation, remain scarce. Here we present a concerted effort to unlock and unify dozens of stimulus-linked olfactory datasets across species and modalities under a unified framework called Pyrfume. We present examples of how researchers might use Pyrfume to conduct novel analyses uncovering new principles, introduce trainees to the field, or construct benchmarks for machine olfaction.

neuroscience↗

Spatially organized genomic and physiological heterogeneity of the olfactory bulb mitral cell layer

Sensory inputs to the dorsal vs ventral olfactory bulb derive from distinct receptor families, and drive distinct behaviors. To address whether second-order OB neurons and circuits exhibit matching heterogeneity for input-specific readout, we clustered spatial expression profiles of >2,000 genes from the mitral cell layer (MCL). We observed clear dorsal and ventral clusters, together with dorsoventral differences in mitral cell physiology. Bulbar circuits may therefore be tuned for zone-specific computation.

neuroscience↗