Olfactory receptor cells on the cockroach antennae: responses to the direction and rate of change in food odour concentration

In insects, information about food odour is encoded by olfactory receptor cells with characteristic response spectra, located in several types of cuticular sensilla. Within short, hair-like sensilla on the cockroach's antenna, antagonistic pairs of olfactory receptor cells shape information inflow to the CNS by providing excitatory responses for both increases and decreases in food odour concentration. The segregation of food odour information into parallel ON and OFF responses suggests that temporal concentration changes become enhanced in the sensory output. When food odour concentration changes slowly and continuously up and down with smooth transition from one direction to another, the ON and OFF olfactory cells not only signal a succession of odour concentrations but also the rate with which odour concentration happens to be changing. Access to the values of such cues is of great use to an insect orientating to an odour source. With them they may extract concentration gradients from odour plumes.