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Related Concept Videos

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...
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...
Association Areas of the Cortex01:21

Association Areas of the Cortex

Association areas are regions of the cerebral cortex that do not have a specific sensory or motor function. Instead, they integrate and interpret information from various sources to enable higher cognitive processes such as memory, learning, and decision-making. Some key association areas include the following:
Prefrontal Association Area: This area is located in the frontal lobe and is involved in planning, decision-making, and moderating social behavior. It connects with primary motor areas,...
Motor and Sensory Areas of the Cortex01:14

Motor and Sensory Areas of the Cortex

The cerebral cortex, the brain's outermost layer, is pivotal in processing complex cognitive tasks, emotions, and various sensory inputs and executing voluntary motor activities. This intricate structure is divided into three primary functional areas: the motor areas, sensory areas, and association areas.
Motor Areas
The motor areas located in the frontal lobe are central to controlling voluntary movements. This region is further subdivided into the primary motor cortex and the premotor cortex.

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 22, 2026

A Free-breathing fMRI Method to Study Human Olfactory Function
10:42

A Free-breathing fMRI Method to Study Human Olfactory Function

Published on: July 30, 2017

Odor quality coding and categorization in human posterior piriform cortex.

James D Howard1, Jane Plailly, Marcus Grueschow

  • 1Cognitive Neurology & Alzheimer's Disease Center, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA.

Nature Neuroscience
|June 2, 2009
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

The human brain encodes odor quality perception in the posterior piriform cortex (PPC). Spatially distributed neural activity patterns in the PPC correlate with how similar we perceive odors to be.

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Real-time In Vitro Monitoring of Odorant Receptor Activation by an Odorant in the Vapor Phase

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Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 22, 2026

A Free-breathing fMRI Method to Study Human Olfactory Function
10:42

A Free-breathing fMRI Method to Study Human Olfactory Function

Published on: July 30, 2017

New Methods to Study Gustatory Coding
10:59

New Methods to Study Gustatory Coding

Published on: June 29, 2017

Real-time In Vitro Monitoring of Odorant Receptor Activation by an Odorant in the Vapor Phase
09:53

Real-time In Vitro Monitoring of Odorant Receptor Activation by an Odorant in the Vapor Phase

Published on: April 23, 2019

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Olfactory Perception
  • Sensory Processing

Background:

  • Efficient odor recognition is vital for animal survival and behavior.
  • Understanding how the brain encodes odor quality is a significant gap in neuroscience.
  • Organisms need to represent odor qualities to distinguish important environmental cues.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate where and in what form the human brain encodes information about odor quality.
  • To determine the brain regions responsible for categorical perception of odors.
  • To test the role of the piriform cortex in olfactory perception.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) combined with multivariate pattern analysis.
  • Examined brain activity patterns in response to various odor stimuli.
  • Correlated fMRI patterns with subjective perceptual ratings of odor similarity.

Main Results:

  • Spatially distributed ensemble activity in the posterior piriform cortex (PPC) correlated with perceived odor quality.
  • Odorants with similar fMRI patterns in the PPC were perceived as more alike.
  • These effects were not observed in the anterior piriform cortex, amygdala, or orbitofrontal cortex.

Conclusions:

  • Ensemble coding of odor categorical perception is regionally specific to the human PPC.
  • Findings support models of distributed piriform templates for reconstructing odor object quality.
  • The PPC plays a critical role in the perceptual representation of odor quality.