Most organisms use their olfactory system to detect and analyze chemical cues from the external world to guide essential behaviors. From worms to vertebrates, chemicals are detected by odorant receptors expressed by olfactory sensory neurons, which in vertebrates send an axon to the primary processing center called the olfactory bulb (OB). Within the OB, sensory neurons form excitatory synapses with projection neurons and with inhibitory interneurons. Thus, because of complex synaptic interactions, the output of a given projection neuron is determined not only by the sensory input, but also by the activity of local inhibitory interneurons that are regenerated throughout life in the process of adult neurogenesis. Herein, we discuss how it is optimized and why.