* Scientists from the University of East Anglia (UEA) and the John Innes Centre have discovered how serotonin alters the locust's sense of smell.
* The research, published in the journal _Current Biology_, could lead to new treatments for human health conditions affected by smell, such as Parkinson's disease and schizophrenia.
* Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that is involved in mood, appetite, and sleep in humans.
* In locusts, serotonin has been shown to affect their behavior, including their response to food odors.
* The researchers used a combination of electrophysiological recordings and behavioral experiments to study how serotonin alters the locust's sense of smell.
* They found that serotonin affects the activity of olfactory neurons in the locust's antennae.
* This, in turn, changes the locust's behavior in response to different odors.
* The researchers believe that their findings could have implications for understanding how serotonin affects the sense of smell in humans.
* This could lead to new treatments for human health conditions affected by smell, such as Parkinson's disease and schizophrenia.
Abstract:
The neurotransmitter serotonin has been implicated in a wide range of physiological processes, including mood, appetite, and sleep. 5-HT has also been shown to modulate sensory perception, with one of the best-studied examples being its effects on olfaction. In locusts, the olfactory system has been well characterized, and 5-HT has been shown to affect the behavioral response to certain odors. However, the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying these effects remain unclear. In this study, we used a combination of electrophysiological recordings and behavioral experiments to investigate the effects of 5-HT on the locust olfactory system. We found that 5-HT enhances the responses of odorant receptor neurons to specific odorants, and this is associated with increased behavioral attraction to those odors. Using in vivo calcium imaging, we observed that 5-HT modulates the firing activity of the projection neurons (PNs) within the antennal lobe. Taken together, our results suggest that 5-HT regulates the locust's sense of smell via direct effects on PN activity and provide a better understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying 5-HT's effects on olfaction.
