Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Olfaction

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 Pathway

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...

Traumatic Memory

Traumatic Memory

Emotionally traumatic events often lead to memories that are exceptionally vivid and enduring, sometimes persisting with remarkable clarity throughout an individual's life. A classic example of this phenomenon is a person who survives a car accident. Even years later, they may recall every detail of the event with startling accuracy — the screeching of the tires, the jarring impact, and the acrid smell of burning rubber. Such vividness contrasts sharply with how an individual remembers mundane...

Olfactory Receptors: Location and Structure

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...

Interference and Decay

Interference and Decay

Forgetting is a complex cognitive phenomenon influenced by several factors, among which interference and decay are particularly prominent. These processes explain why individuals often struggle to retrieve specific information from memory, leading to lapses in recall that can be observed in everyday situations.
Interference occurs when competing memories hinder the retrieval of particular information. It can be classified into two types: proactive and retroactive interference. Proactive...

Role of Amygdala in Memory

Role of Amygdala in Memory

The amygdala is a small, almond-shaped structure responsible for processing and storing memories, particularly those linked to emotions like fear and stress. It plays an essential role in the brain's response to emotionally significant events and often enhances memory formation by triggering stress hormone release. The amygdala is vital for encoding and retrieving memories associated with fear or stress, a process that is adaptive by helping organisms avoid dangerous situations.
One of the...

You might also read

Related Articles

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

Sort by

Same author

Is High Fat and Sugar Intake Associated with Disrupted Attentional-Motivational Coupling for Food? Evidence from an Eye Tracking Study.

Brain sciences·2026

Same author

Severity of Onion Tearing and Chemosensory Sensitivity: A Preliminary Investigation.

Laryngoscope investigative otolaryngology·2026

Same author

Testing a learning-based account of interoceptive hunger using an illusory induction.

Appetite·2026

Same author

Human olfactory sensitivity varies across geographical locations.

Scientific reports·2026

Same author

Psychological induction of interoceptive states.

Consciousness and cognition·2026

Same author

Sound source ambiguity augments illusory mislocalisation of computer presented stomach rumbles to self.

Psychological research·2025

Same journal

Mind wandering during first- and foreign-language reading.

Psychonomic bulletin & review·2026

Same journal

Lexical word processing is unaffected by rapid invisible frequency tagging in reading: Evidence from eye movements.

Psychonomic bulletin & review·2026

Same journal

Anxiety modulates voluntary attentional orienting to emotional gaze cues: Eye movements for pro- and anti-saccades.

Psychonomic bulletin & review·2026

Same journal

Faster key-press responses to front vowels than back vowels when matching heard vowels with represented vowels.

Psychonomic bulletin & review·2026

Same journal

Testing the interleaving effect without response bias: A forced-choice reevaluation of Kornell and Bjork (2008).

Psychonomic bulletin & review·2026

Same journal

The impact of social interaction on abstract concepts.

Psychonomic bulletin & review·2026

See all related articles

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 14, 2026

Olfactory Context Dependent Memory: Direct Presentation of Odorants

Olfactory Context Dependent Memory: Direct Presentation of Odorants

Published on: September 18, 2018

Familiarity influences odor memory stability.

Richard J Stevenson¹, Mehmet K Mahmut

¹Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales 2109, Australia. dick.stevenson@mq.edu.au

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review

|January 24, 2013

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Memory-based pattern matching influences olfactory perception. Unfamiliar odor representations are less stable over time compared to familiar ones, impacting recall accuracy.

More Related Videos

Testing for Odor Discrimination and Habituation in Mice

Testing for Odor Discrimination and Habituation in Mice

Published on: May 5, 2015

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 14, 2026

Olfactory Context Dependent Memory: Direct Presentation of Odorants

Olfactory Context Dependent Memory: Direct Presentation of Odorants

Published on: September 18, 2018

Testing for Odor Discrimination and Habituation in Mice

Testing for Odor Discrimination and Habituation in Mice

Published on: May 5, 2015

Area of Science:

Cognitive psychology
Neuroscience
Olfactory perception

Background:

Olfactory perception may rely on a memory-based pattern-matching system.
This suggests that the stability of odor representations could vary based on familiarity.

Purpose of the Study:

To test the prediction that representations of unfamiliar odors are less stable than those of familiar odors.

Main Methods:

Participants described odors immediately or after a delay (1 or 3 min).
A surprise test assessed the ability to match descriptions to odors.
Performance was compared between familiar and unfamiliar odors under different delay conditions.

Main Results:

Delay did not affect matching performance for familiar odors.
For unfamiliar odors, delayed descriptions significantly impaired matching performance compared to immediate descriptions.
The ability to name familiar odors aided matching only at the longest delay.

Conclusions:

Unfamiliar odor representations are less stable than familiar ones.
This instability may stem from weak activation of memory nodes for unfamiliar odors, as suggested by pattern-matching theory.