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Related Concept Videos

Physiology of Smell and Olfactory Pathway01:20

Physiology of Smell and Olfactory Pathway

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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...
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Olfaction01:25

Olfaction

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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...
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Olfactory Receptors: Location and Structure01:03

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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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Motor and Sensory Areas of the Cortex01:14

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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.
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Vision01:24

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Vision is the result of light being detected and transduced into neural signals by the retina of the eye. This information is then further analyzed and interpreted by the brain. First, light enters the front of the eye and is focused by the cornea and lens onto the retina—a thin sheet of neural tissue lining the back of the eye. Because of refraction through the convex lens of the eye, images are projected onto the retina upside-down and reversed.
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Association Areas of the Cortex01:21

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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:
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Mar 15, 2026

Constructing an Olfactometer for Rodent Olfactory Behavior Studies Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Hyperscanning Study in Psychological Counseling
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Smelling Time: A Neural Basis for Olfactory Scene Analysis.

Barry W Ache1, Andrew M Hein2, Yuriy V Bobkov3

  • 1Whitney Laboratory for Marine Biosciences, Center for Smell and Taste, and McKnight Brain Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA; Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA; Department of Neuroscience, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.

Trends in Neurosciences
|September 6, 2016
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Animals may use bursting olfactory receptor neurons (bORNs) to detect temporal patterns in smells. This suggests olfaction plays a key role in perceiving time and space, enabling a richer understanding of the environment.

Keywords:
encoding timeolfactionscene analysis

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Sensory Biology
  • Olfactory System

Background:

  • Olfaction is traditionally viewed as primarily spatial.
  • Emerging evidence suggests olfaction's role in temporal interpretation is underestimated.
  • Animals inhabit complex olfactory environments requiring temporal processing.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review evidence for neural mechanisms enabling temporal information extraction in olfaction.
  • To explore the role of bursting olfactory receptor neurons (bORNs) in time encoding.
  • To propose how 'smelling time' contributes to olfactory scene analysis.

Main Methods:

  • Review of existing behavioral and neural evidence.
  • Analysis of studies on phylogenetically diverse animals and humans.
  • Examination of the properties of rhythmically active olfactory receptor neurons.

Main Results:

  • Behavioral data support olfaction's involvement in interpreting space and time.
  • Bursting olfactory receptor neurons (bORNs) are identified as potential neural substrates for temporal encoding.
  • bORNs can extract temporal information from natural olfactory signals.

Conclusions:

  • Olfaction possesses mechanisms, like bORNs, for encoding time.
  • 'Smelling time' is a crucial component for comprehensive olfactory scene analysis.
  • The olfactory system's capacity for temporal interpretation is greater than previously assumed.