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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...

Auditory Pathway

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Auditory pathways constitute the complex neural circuits responsible for transmitting and interpreting auditory information from the peripheral auditory system to the brain. Sound waves are initially captured by the outer ear, funneled through the ear canal, and reach the tympanic membrane (eardrum). These vibrations are transmitted via the middle ear's ossicles to the inner ear's cochlea.
When viewed cross-sectionally, the cochlea reveals the scala vestibuli and scala tympani flanking...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Nov 22, 2025

Simultaneous Long-term Recordings at Two Neuronal Processing Stages in Behaving Honeybees

Simultaneous Long-term Recordings at Two Neuronal Processing Stages in Behaving Honeybees

Published on: July 21, 2014

Adaptive temporal processing of odor stimuli.

Sofia C Brandão¹, Marion Silies¹, Carlotta Martelli²

¹Institute of Developmental Biology and Neurobiology, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany.

Cell and Tissue Research

|January 6, 2021

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

The olfactory system processes smells for animal behavior. This review explores how neural pathways create robust and flexible odor representations for decision-making.

Keywords:

Olfactory system Sensory adaptation Stimulus dynamics

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Olfactory system research
Sensory processing

Background:

The olfactory system converts chemical cues into neural signals.
Odor information guides animal behavior, including source identification and localization.
Effective odor processing requires representations that are robust to environmental changes and flexible for adaptive behaviors.

Purpose of the Study:

To review the computational strategies within the olfactory neural pathway.
To explain how robust and flexible odor representations are achieved.
To connect neural computations to behavioral outcomes.

Main Methods:

Review of existing literature on olfactory neural pathways.
Analysis of computational models of olfactory processing.
Synthesis of findings on neural encoding of odor information.

Main Results:

Odor representations must be adaptable to varying conditions.
Neural computations enable flexibility in odor perception.
Robustness in odor encoding is crucial for reliable behavioral responses.

Conclusions:

The olfactory system employs sophisticated computations for odor encoding.
Robust and flexible odor representations are key to adaptive behaviors.
Understanding these computations provides insights into sensory processing and decision-making.