Olfaction: A Model System for Computational Neuroscience [Hardcover]

Joel L. Davis (Editor), Howard Eichenbaum (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 4, 1991 | Series: Bradford Books

Computational neuroscientists have recently turned to modeling olfactory structures because these are likely to have the same functional properties as currently popular network designs for perception and memory. This book provides a useful survey of current work on olfactory system circuitry, including connections of this system to brain structures involved in cognition and memory, and describes the computational models of olfactory processing that have been developed to date.

Contributions cover empirical investigations of the neurobiology of the olfactory systems (anatomy, physiology, synaptic plasticity, behavioral physiology) as well as the application of computer models to understanding these systems. Fundamental issues in olfactory processing by the nervous systems such as experimental strategies in the study of olfaction, stages of odor processing, and critical questions in sensory coding are considered across empirical/applied boundaries and throughout the contributions.

Contributors: 1. Fundamental Anatomy, Physiology, and Plasticity of the Olfactory System. Gordon M. Shepherd. John S. Kauer, S. R. Neff, Kathryn A. Hamilton, and Angel R. Cinelli. Kevin L. Ketchum, Lewis B. Haberly. Joseph L. Price, S. Thomas Carmichael, Ken M. Carnes, MarieChristine Clugnet, Masaru Kuroda, and James P. Ray. Michael Leon, Donald A. Wilson, and Kathleen M. Guthrie. Gary Lynch and Richard Granger. Howard Eichenbaum, Tim Otto, Cynthia Wible, and jean Piper. II. Developments in Computational Models of the Olfactory System. DeLiang Wang, Joachim Buhmann, and Christoph von der Marlsburg. Walter Freeman. Richard Granger, Ursula Staubi, José Ambrose-Ingersoll, and Gary Lynch. James M. Bower. Dan Hammerstrom and Eric Means.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Joel L. Davis is Program Officer, Cognitive, Neural, and Biomolecular Science and Technology Division, Office of Naval Research.

Howard Eichenbaum is Professor of Biological Sciences at Wellesley College.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 331 pages
• Publisher: The MIT Press (November 4, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0262041243
• ISBN-13: 978-0262041249
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 7.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,199,505 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Smell provides the insight into mechanics of cortex, November 25, 2000

By 

Howard Schneider (Thornhill, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Olfaction: A Model System for Computational Neuroscience (Hardcover)

It is shown how the synaptic connections of the piriform cortex are analogous to the input and recurrent connections of classical autoassociative memory. Processing units are the pyramidal cells in piriform cortical layers II and III. The dendrites of these pyramidal cells extend into piriform layer I. Piriform layer Ia (lateral olfactory tract, LOT, input from the olfactory bulb) synapsing with the pyramidal dendrites, represent the input connections to the autoassociative memory. Recurrent excitatory axons from the pyramidal cells projecting to piriform layer Ib and synapsing with the dendrites of multiple pyramidal cells, represents the recurrent connections of the autoassociative memory.