Olfaction: A Model System for Computational Neuroscience

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.