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Related Concept Videos

Gustation01:43

Gustation

Gustation is a chemical sense that, along with olfaction (smell), contributes to our perception of taste. It starts with the activation of receptors by chemical compounds (tastants) dissolved in the saliva. The saliva and filiform papillae on the tongue distribute the tastants and increase their exposure to the taste receptors.
Olfaction01:25

Olfaction

The sense of smell is achieved through the activities of the olfactory system. It starts when an airborne odorant enters the nasal cavity and reaches olfactory epithelium (OE). The OE is protected by a thin layer of mucus, which also serves the purpose of dissolving more complex compounds into simpler chemical odorants. The size of the OE and the density of sensory neurons varies among species; in humans, the OE is only about 9-10 cm2.
The olfactory receptors are embedded in the cilia of the...
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Motor Areas
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Olfactory Receptors: Location and Structure01:03

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The process of olfaction, also known as the sense of smell, is a sophisticated chemical response system. The specialized sensory neurons that facilitate this process, known as olfactory receptor neurons, are situated in an upper segment of the nasal cavity, known as the olfactory epithelium. Olfactory sensory neurons are bipolar, with their dendrites extending from the epithelium's apex into the mucus that lines the nasal cavity. Airborne molecules, when inhaled, traverse the olfactory...
Physiology of Smell and Olfactory Pathway01:20

Physiology of Smell and Olfactory Pathway

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The olfactory...
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 24, 2026

A Lateralized Odor Learning Model in Neonatal Rats for Dissecting Neural Circuitry Underpinning Memory Formation
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Published on: August 18, 2014

Reading cinnamon activates olfactory brain regions.

Julio González1, Alfonso Barros-Loscertales, Friedemann Pulvermüller

  • 1Department Psicología Básica, Clínica y Psicobiología, Universitat Jaume I. 12071-Castellón de la Plana, Spain. gonzalez@psb.uji.es

Neuroimage
|May 3, 2006
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Certain words automatically trigger smell associations. This neuroimaging study reveals that reading odour-related words activates the olfactory cortex, linking language processing with sensory information.

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Cognitive Science
  • Psycholinguistics

Background:

  • Language processing and sensory perception are distinct cognitive functions.
  • The neural underpinnings of how words evoke specific sensory experiences, like smell, remain largely unexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the abstract link between linguistic information and olfactory perception.
  • To explore the neural basis of how odour-related words activate specific brain regions.

Main Methods:

  • Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was employed to monitor brain activity.
  • Participants passively read lists of words, including odour-related terms (e.g., 'garlic', 'cinnamon') and neutral control words.
  • Brain activation patterns were analyzed in response to each word category.

Main Results:

  • Reading odour-related words significantly activated the primary olfactory cortex, including the piriform cortex and amygdala.
  • Activation was observed in widely distributed cortical cell assemblies, extending into language processing areas.
  • These activated neural networks also encompassed parts of the olfactory system.

Conclusions:

  • The processing of olfactory words involves distributed neural systems that integrate language and sensory information.
  • These findings suggest a neural basis for the association between language, conceptual meaning, and sensory experiences.
  • This research provides novel insights into the abstract linking of olfactory concepts and their linguistic representations.