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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...

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...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Apr 21, 2026

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

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

Published on: August 18, 2014

Visualizing the engram: learning stabilizes odor representations in the olfactory network.

Amin M D Shakhawat¹, Ali Gheidi¹, Qinlong Hou¹

¹Division of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, and.

The Journal of Neuroscience : the Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience

|November 14, 2014

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Learning stabilizes neural representations of rewarded odors in rat pups, creating enduring memories. This involves changes in the olfactory bulb and piriform cortex, highlighting the brain

Keywords:

Arc olfactory bulb olfactory learning piriform cortex

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Published on: October 30, 2014

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Memory research
Olfactory system function

Background:

Understanding how the brain forms and stores memories is crucial in neuroscience.
The olfactory system provides a model for studying learning and memory due to its well-characterized pathways.
Neural representations of external stimuli change with learning and experience.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate how learning and memory impact neural representations in the olfactory system.
To examine the role of Arc mRNA transcription in probing neural representations of temporally separated events.
To characterize the stability and characteristics of odor representations during associative learning in rat pups.

Main Methods:

Utilized a well-characterized odor learning model in rat pups, associating peppermint odor with maternal care.
Employed multiday training to establish enduring memories of the rewarded odor.
Measured Arc mRNA transcription to probe neural representations in the olfactory bulb (mitral and granule cells) and anterior piriform cortex.
Analyzed changes in neuronal activity and representation stability.

Main Results:

Training stabilized neural representations of rewarded odors but not nonrewarded odors.
A core group of stable, highly active neurons represented the rewarded odor in both the olfactory bulb and anterior piriform cortex.
Odor representations in the anterior piriform cortex were sparser in pups than in adult rats and did not enlarge with learning.
Normal odor responses were highly variable (∼70% cell change), consistent with dynamic cortical representations.

Conclusions:

Learning and memory consolidate rewarded odor representations by increasing stability within a core neuronal ensemble.
The olfactory cortical representations observed are consistent with associative models of sparse, variable cortical representations.
The findings provide insights into the neural mechanisms underlying memory formation and the dynamic nature of brain representations.