The Broader, the Better? Drosophila Olfactory Interneurons Are Found to Respond to a Wider Range of Odorants Than Their Immediate Sensory Input

The Drosophila antennal lobe represents the first processing stage for olfactory information. In contrast to previous views, Olsen et al. (this issue of Neuron) demonstrate that antennal lobe output neurons show a broadened odor-tuning spectrum as compared to their sensory input. Likely candidates responsible for this broadening of odor tuning are recently identified excitatory local interneurons (Shang et al., February 9 issue of Cell)