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Related Concept Videos

Physiology of Smell and Olfactory Pathway01:20

Physiology of Smell and Olfactory Pathway

Humans detect odors with the help of specialized cells located in the upper part of the nasal cavity, called olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs). ORNs possess hair-like structures called cilia, which are receptive to sensations from the inhaled air. When an odorant molecule binds to a specific receptor on the cell of the cilia, it leads to a series of events that ultimately cause the ORN to send electrical signals to the olfactory bulb in the brain through the olfactory nerves.
The olfactory...
Olfactory Receptors: Location and Structure01:03

Olfactory Receptors: Location and Structure

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...
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...
Classification of Illness01:17

Classification of Illness

The meaning of illness is individualized to each person who experiences an alteration in health. In contrast, disease is a medical term indicating a pathological change in the structure and function of the body or mind. It is a condition that has specific symptoms and boundaries.
An illness is a response to a disease in which the person's level of functioning is changed compared with a previous level. The general classification of illness includes acute and chronic.
Acute illness is severe and...
Factors Affecting Illness01:18

Factors Affecting Illness

When a person's physical, emotional, intellectual, social development or spiritual functioning is compromised, this deviation from a healthy normal state is called illness. Illness creates stress that in turn harms individuals. Irritation, anger, denial, hopelessness, and fear are behavioral and emotional changes an individual experiences in the phases of illness. A variety of factors influence a person's health and well-being.
For instance, risk factors are connected to illness, disability,...
Conditioned Taste Aversion01:14

Conditioned Taste Aversion

Conditioned taste aversion, also known as sauce béarnaise syndrome, is a phenomenon in which an individual develops an aversion to a certain food taste following a negative experience, typically illness. This form of aversion is a type of classical conditioning in which the taste of the food (conditioned stimulus, CS) is associated with the experience of illness (unconditioned stimulus, UCS).
A notable characteristic of conditioned taste aversion is that it often requires only a single exposure...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 28, 2026

Olfactory Context Dependent Memory: Direct Presentation of Odorants
04:47

Olfactory Context Dependent Memory: Direct Presentation of Odorants

Published on: September 18, 2018

The implicit association between odors and illness.

Patricia J Bulsing1, Monique A M Smeets, Marcel A Van den Hout

  • 1Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, Utrecht University, PO Box 80140, 3508 TC, Utrecht, The Netherlands. p.bulsing@uu.nl

Chemical Senses
|October 22, 2008
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

The study found an automatic, unconscious link between odors and sickness. This suggests a fast processing route for odor-related health symptoms, complementing conscious thought.

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Combining a Breath-Synchronized Olfactometer with Brain Simulation to Study the Impact of Odors on Corticospinal Excitability and Effective Connectivity
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Studying the Effects of Inhaled Environmental Pollutants on Olfactory Function in Mice
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Studying the Effects of Inhaled Environmental Pollutants on Olfactory Function in Mice

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Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 28, 2026

Olfactory Context Dependent Memory: Direct Presentation of Odorants
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Published on: September 18, 2018

Combining a Breath-Synchronized Olfactometer with Brain Simulation to Study the Impact of Odors on Corticospinal Excitability and Effective Connectivity
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Studying the Effects of Inhaled Environmental Pollutants on Olfactory Function in Mice
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Studying the Effects of Inhaled Environmental Pollutants on Olfactory Function in Mice

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Area of Science:

  • Psychology
  • Neuroscience
  • Environmental Health

Background:

  • Some individuals report health symptoms from odor exposures, even without toxicological basis.
  • Beliefs about odorant health effects may mediate these symptoms, suggesting controlled information processing.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate a fast, implicit processing route for odor-related health associations.
  • To explore automatic odor-health connections beyond conscious control.

Main Methods:

  • An Implicit Association Test (IAT) was used to measure association strengths.
  • Participants' associations between 'odor' and 'healthy'/'sick' were assessed across three experiments.

Main Results:

  • A significantly stronger association was found between 'odor' and 'sick' compared to 'odor' and 'healthy'.
  • These implicit findings differed from explicit associations, indicating automatic processing.

Conclusions:

  • Evidence supports a fast, automatic processing route for olfactory information, complementing conscious processing.
  • A dual-processing theory of olfactory information is proposed to explain odor-induced health symptoms.