Temporal coding in an olfactory oscillatory model

Abstract We propose a model of the glomerular stage of the insect olfactory pathway that exhibits coding of inputs through spatio–temporal patterns of the type observed experimentally in locust. Making use of the temporal bins provided by the oscillatory field potential we find that it suffices to employ simple little-Hopfield dynamics to account for a rich repertoire of patterns. In particular, we show that we are able to reproduce complex activity patterns from electrophysiological recordings in insects. Biologically plausible mechanisms of synaptic adaptation are discussed.