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Kenyon cells are the intrinsic of the Mushroom bodies, a neuropil found in the brains of most and some . They were first described by Frederick C. Kenyon in 1896. The number of Kenyon cells in an organism varies greatly between species. For example, in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, there are about 2,500 Kenyon cells per mushroom body, while in cockroaches there are about 230,000.
Kenyon cells are mainly Chemical synapse in the calyces, where their form microglomeruli. These microglomeruli are made up of Kenyon cell dendrites, Acetylcholine boutons, and GABAergic terminals. Antennal lobe projection neurons are the source of the cholinergic input, and the GABAergic input is from protocerebral neurons.
Kenyon cells are Chemical synapse to mushroom body output neurons in the lobes. However, the lobes are not only output regions; Kenyon cells are both pre and postsynaptic in these regions.
The cells are subdivided into subtypes; for example, those that have their cell bodies outside of the calyx cup are called clawed Kenyon cells.
The positioning of Kenyon cells depends on their birth order. The somata of early-born Kenyon cells are pushed outward as more Kenyon cells are created. This results in a concentric pattern of cell bodies, with the somata of the last-born cells in the center, where the neuroblast had been, and the somata of the first-born cells at the outermost margins of the cell body area. Where a Kenyon cell sends its dendrites in the calyces and which lobes it projects its axons to varies based on its birth-order. Distinct types of Kenyon cells form at specific times during development.
Information about odors may be encoded in the mushroom body by the identities of the responsive neurons as well as the timing of their spikes. Experiments in locusts have shown that Kenyon cells have their activity synchronized to 20-Hz neural oscillations and are particularly responsive to projection neuron spikes at specific phases of the oscillatory cycle.
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