Figure 3. Odors activate distributed ensembles of PCx neurons.

(A) Schematic of the PCx model. (B) Voltage traces for three sequential sniffs in four model pyramidal cells. Time of inhalation is indicated by the dashed line. (C) Single-trial population activity map for all 10,000 pyramidal cells. Each pixel represents a single cell, and pixel color indicates the number of spikes fired during the 200 ms inhalation. Approximately 13% of cells fired at least one action potential, with activated cells randomly distributed across the cortex. (D) Response vectors shown for 20 cells in response to different odors presented on four sequential trials. Spiking levels are low for no-odor controls. Note the trial-to-trial variability and that individual cells can be activated by different odors.