Information processing in the brain is modified by various interoceptive signals from the body. Jammal Salameh et al. now demonstrate a direct, fast influence of blood pressure pulsations on rodent olfactory bulb (OB) neurons.

Local oscillations in network activity contribute to OB function. To examine the mechanisms that govern these oscillations, the authors isolated the rat olfactory system from the rest of the brain and body. The vasculature supplying the tissue was perfused with artificial cerebrospinal fluid via a peristaltic pump, generating pressure pulsations in the blood vessels with timing similar to that of endogenous heartbeat-driven blood-pressure pulsations. Using this preparation, they identified slow oscillations in local field potentials that originated in OB mitral cells and were driven by the pump-induced pressure pulsations.