How the brain determines a smell

clipped from www.physorg.com Neuronal circuits able to rewire on the fly to sharpen senses An blurry image processed with a computer model of activity-dependent lateral inhibition appears in deep contrast, illustrating dynamic connectivity. Credit: Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, Pittsburgh, Pa. Researchers from the Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition (CNBC), a joint project of Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh, have for the first time described a mechanism called “dynamic connectivity,” in which neuronal circuits are rewired “on the fly” allowing stimuli to be more keenly sensed. The process is described in a paper in the January 2008 issue of Nature Neuroscience.

This new, biologically inspired algorithm for analyzing the brain at work allows scientists to explain why when we notice a scent, the brain can quickly sort through input and determine exactly what that smell is.
“If you think of the brain like a computer, then the connections between neurons are like the software that the brain is running. Our work shows that this biological software is changed rapidly as a function of the kind of input that the system receives,” said Nathan Urban, associate professor of biological sciences at Carnegie Mellon.

Related:
Neuronal Circuits Able To Rewire On The Fly To Sharpen Senses
Activity-dependent gating of lateral inhibition in the mouse olfactory bulb : Abstract : Nature Neuroscience
Carnegie Mellon University