Project Grant R01DC024495

The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders awarded University of California, San Diego $395,880 on August 1, 2026, under the Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders program (CFDA 93.173) to investigate continual learning in the mouse olfactory bulb.

The award funds experimental, computational, and modeling research to examine how adult neurogenesis and centrifugal feedback from the piriform cortex support perceptual learning and minimize catastrophic forgetting when mice learn sequential olfactory discrimination tasks. The research uses a perceptual learning paradigm in which mice discriminate between similar odors over time, observing how mitral cells in the olfactory bulb show pattern decorrelation as representations of similar odors become increasingly dissimilar. The work investigates how neurogenesis in the granule cell population and feedback projections from the piriform cortex work together to compartmentalize learning of different tasks and reduce task interference. The research directly supports NIDCD's taste and smell program by expanding knowledge of mechanisms that enable the olfactory system to adapt to constantly changing sensory environments.

Performance occurs in La Jolla, California. The period of performance extends from August 1, 2026, through July 31, 2029. This is a Project Grant, the primary assistance type through which NIDCD funds research at universities and research institutions.