Potential Oscillations in the Lower Olfactory Pathway of the Toad

Abstract

IN the olfactory bulb of the hedgehog and the rabbit, Adrian^1,2 found that the potential waves evoked by olfactory stimulation take shapes of potential oscillation. It was presumed that the waves were developed by synchronized activity in the dendritic region of the bulb. Later, he³ recorded the similar potential in the olfactory epithelium of the rabbit, and found that the potential pattern in the epithelium has all the features of that appearing in the bulb. In the experiment, Adrian³ did not record the potentials in the epithelium and the bulb simultaneously; but from the similarity he presumed that the mechanism which produces the potential oscillation in the bulb originates in the olfactory epithelium. In the olfactory epithelium of the frog, Ottoson⁴ found that rhythmic waves sometimes superimpose on the crest of the slow potentials produced by odour stimulation. He presumed that they are identical to the potential oscillations found by Adrian^1–3.