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Comparative Study
. 1995 Aug 15;92(17):7864-8.
doi: 10.1073/pnas.92.17.7864.

Olfactory transduction is intrinsically noisy

G Lowe  1 , G H Gold
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Olfactory transduction is intrinsically noisy

G Lowe et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. .

Erratum in

  • Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 1995 Nov 7;92(23):10817

Abstract

The sources of noise that limit olfactory signal detection were investigated in dissociated rat olfactory receptor cells. Near-threshold odorant-evoked currents exhibited large random fluctuation. However, similar fluctuations were observed in the absence of applied odorants when currents were induced by elevating the intracellular cyclic AMP concentration. This suggests that the fluctuations reflect noise intrinsic to the transduction mechanism, rather than the quantal nature of an odorant stimulus. For many odorants, this intrinsic noise may preclude the reliable detection of single odorant molecules.

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References

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