Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

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...
Prosopagnosia01:24

Prosopagnosia

Prosopagnosia, also known as face blindness, is the inability to recognize faces. In severe cases, individuals with prosopagnosia may not recognize close family members, including parents and spouses, by their faces. For instance, someone with prosopagnosia might walk past their child in a crowd, only realizing their mistake upon noticing their child's distinctive backpack or favorite jacket. Prosopagnosia specifically impairs facial recognition, while the recognition of other objects or...
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...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Evidence for the Collective Nature of Radial Flow in Pb+Pb Collisions with the ATLAS Detector.

Physical review letters·2026
Same author

Evidence for the Dimuon Decay of the Higgs Boson in pp Collisions with the ATLAS Detector.

Physical review letters·2025
Same author

Evidence for Longitudinally Polarized W Bosons in the Electroweak Production of Same-Sign W Boson Pairs in Association with Two Jets in pp Collisions at sqrt[s]=13  TeV with the ATLAS Detector.

Physical review letters·2025
Same author

Observation of tt[over ¯] Production in Pb+Pb Collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=5.02  TeV with the ATLAS Detector.

Physical review letters·2025
Same author

Search for Dark Matter Produced in Association with a Dark Higgs Boson in the bb[over ¯] Final State Using pp Collisions at sqrt[s]=13  TeV with the ATLAS Detector.

Physical review letters·2025
Same author

Search for Magnetic Monopole Pair Production in Ultraperipheral Pb+Pb Collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=5.36  TeV with the ATLAS Detector at the LHC.

Physical review letters·2025
Same journal

Critical re-evaluation of heart rate variability as a predictor of posttraumatic stress disorder: a narrative review.

Neuroscience·2026
Same journal

Socioeconomic status impacts metacognition of working memory and emotion recognition.

Neuroscience·2026
Same journal

EEG oscillatory correlates of meditation practice: a systematic review and exploratory meta-analysis.

Neuroscience·2026
Same journal

Chronic stress primes TLR3-mediated systemic inflammation to produce persistent post-viral fatigue syndrome-like symptoms in mice.

Neuroscience·2026
Same journal

Contribution of muscarinic acetylcholine receptors to bottom-up amplification of frontal and parietal cortical responses to rare deviant tones in rats.

Neuroscience·2026
Same journal

Developmental switch of GABAergic signaling in starburst amacrine cells driven by chloride transporter dynamics.

Neuroscience·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 5, 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

Gray matter alterations in parosmia.

T Bitter1, F Siegert, H Gudziol

  • 1Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Friedrich-Schiller-University, Jena, Germany. Thomas.Bitter@med.uni-jena.de

Neuroscience
|January 19, 2011
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Parosmia, a smell disorder, involves distorted odor perception. Brain imaging reveals reduced gray matter volume in key olfactory processing areas, linking structural changes to altered smell sensation.

More Related Videos

Olfactory Neurons Obtained through Nasal Biopsy Combined with Laser-Capture Microdissection: A Potential Approach to Study Treatment Response in Mental Disorders
08:33

Olfactory Neurons Obtained through Nasal Biopsy Combined with Laser-Capture Microdissection: A Potential Approach to Study Treatment Response in Mental Disorders

Published on: December 4, 2014

A Lateralized Odor Learning Model in Neonatal Rats for Dissecting Neural Circuitry Underpinning Memory Formation
10:42

A Lateralized Odor Learning Model in Neonatal Rats for Dissecting Neural Circuitry Underpinning Memory Formation

Published on: August 18, 2014

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 5, 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

Olfactory Neurons Obtained through Nasal Biopsy Combined with Laser-Capture Microdissection: A Potential Approach to Study Treatment Response in Mental Disorders
08:33

Olfactory Neurons Obtained through Nasal Biopsy Combined with Laser-Capture Microdissection: A Potential Approach to Study Treatment Response in Mental Disorders

Published on: December 4, 2014

A Lateralized Odor Learning Model in Neonatal Rats for Dissecting Neural Circuitry Underpinning Memory Formation
10:42

A Lateralized Odor Learning Model in Neonatal Rats for Dissecting Neural Circuitry Underpinning Memory Formation

Published on: August 18, 2014

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Olfactory Research
  • Medical Imaging

Background:

  • Parosmia is a common olfactory disorder characterized by distorted, often unpleasant, smell perception.
  • Previous research linked parosmia to smaller olfactory bulb volumes.
  • The underlying pathophysiology and broader brain structural changes remain largely unknown.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate structural brain alterations beyond the olfactory bulb in individuals with parosmia.
  • To identify specific brain regions associated with the distorted olfactory sensations experienced in parosmia.

Main Methods:

  • Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) was employed for whole-brain analysis.
  • A cohort of 22 patients with parosmia was compared to age- and sex-matched controls with normal olfactory function.
  • Volume of interest (VOI) analysis focused on primary and secondary olfactory areas.

Main Results:

  • Significant gray matter volume loss was observed in the left anterior insula in parosmic patients.
  • Additional volume reductions were found in the right anterior insula, anterior cingulate cortex, bilateral hippocampus, and left medial orbitofrontal cortex.
  • These affected regions are crucial for olfactory quality discrimination and odor memory.

Conclusions:

  • Reduced gray matter volume in brain regions involved in odor discrimination and memory is associated with parosmia.
  • These findings suggest that structural brain changes contribute to the disturbed olfactory perception in parosmia.
  • The study highlights the role of the insula, cingulate cortex, hippocampus, and orbitofrontal cortex in olfactory processing and disorders.