Variations in neuronal connectivity occur widely in nervous systems from invertebrates to mammals. Yet, it is unclear how neuronal variability originates, to what extent and at what timescales it exists, and what functional consequences it might carry. Using genetic labeling and electron microscopy connectomics, a team led by Dr. Ya-Hui Chou at Institute of Cellular and Organismic Biology, Academia Sinica, shows that an identified inhibitory olfactory local interneuron, TC-LN, exhibits extraordinary variability in its glomerular innervation patterns. TC-LN’s innervation of the VL2a glomerulus is sexually dimorphic, is influenced by female’s courtship experience, and correlates with food intake in mated females. Mating also affects output connectivity of TC-LN to specific local interneurons. The findings propose that mating-associated variability of TC-LNs regulates how food odor is interpreted by an inhibitory network to modulate feeding. The results were published in Science Advances.

For further information: http://icob.sinica.edu.tw/Information/research_more?id=cd3cdfcf463f464ebb68be369b30a59b
Article link: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abm7723