My research examines the cellular mechanisms underlying detection, discrimination, and encoding of sensory information. The laboratory focuses on sensory mechanisms in olfaction. The olfactory epithelium, which lines part of the nasal airways, contains several million olfactory sensory neurons that use specific odor receptors to detect and discriminate odors. The cells respond to odors with a change in electrical activity generated by membrane ion channels. Of late, we have been particularly interested in the voltage-gated sodium channels that are responsible for initiating and propagating the odor-elicited signals. Although each olfactory sensory neuron expresses just one of a large repertoire of odor receptor genes, each neuron expresses three different subtypes of voltage-gated sodium channels, each with subtly different properties. These channels are differentially distributed in the neurons, one type concentrated close to where odors are detected, another expressed primarily in the axons, and a third distributed throughout the cell. Data suggest that each channel type has its own particular role in generating the odor response, but the functional implications and biological significance of such diversity remain unclear.<\/p>\n