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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.
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Olfaction01:25

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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.
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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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G-Protein Gated Ion Channels01:21

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GPCRs are primarily responsible for our sense of smell, taste, and vision.  The binding of a sensory stimulus activates GPCR to stimulate effector proteins, many of which are ion channels in the sensory organs. GPCRs modulate the opening and closing of the target ion channels either directly by binding them, or by releasing second messengers that activate these channels. As ions move across the membrane, the membrane potential is altered, which induces an appropriate response.
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Sensory Perception: Organization of the Somatosensory System01:11

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The somatosensory system is the central and peripheral nervous system component that senses and processes touch, pressure, pain, temperature, and body position or proprioception. The process of sensation takes place at three levels:
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Tactile senses encompass touch, temperature, and pain, each mediated by specific receptors. Touch receptors detect mechanical energy or pressure against the skin. Sensory fibers from these receptors enter the spinal cord and relay information to the brain stem. Here, most fibers cross over to the opposite side of the brain. The touch information then moves to the thalamus, which projects a map of the body's surface onto the somatosensory areas of the parietal lobes in the cerebral cortex.
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jan 9, 2026

Quadruple Immunostaining of the Olfactory Bulb for Visualization of Olfactory Sensory Axon Molecular Identity Codes
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Quadruple Immunostaining of the Olfactory Bulb for Visualization of Olfactory Sensory Axon Molecular Identity Codes

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Order code in the olfactory system.

Khristina Samoilova1,2, Joshua S Harvey3, Hirofumi Nakayama3

  • 1Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY.

Biorxiv : the Preprint Server for Biology
|December 3, 2025
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Odor identity recognition relies on two brain coding strategies: primacy and order codes. These olfactory bulb mechanisms help identify smells across varying concentrations and animals.

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Real-time In Vitro Monitoring of Odorant Receptor Activation by an Odorant in the Vapor Phase
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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Olfactory System Research
  • Sensory Coding

Background:

  • Recognizing odor identity across concentrations is crucial for olfactory behaviors.
  • The representation of odor identity in the early olfactory system is not fully understood.
  • Two theories, order coding and primacy coding, propose mechanisms for odor identity representation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate how odor identity is represented in the mouse olfactory bulb.
  • To compare the predictive power of the order code and primacy coding theories.
  • To elucidate the coding strategies employed by the olfactory system.

Main Methods:

  • Calcium imaging was used to measure glomerular responses to odorants in the mouse olfactory bulb.
  • Receptor affinities were analyzed in a low-dimensional space.
  • The order code and primacy models were compared for predicting odor identity across concentrations and animals.

Main Results:

  • Two distinct clusters of glomeruli with independent odor representations were identified.
  • Odorants evoked orderly activation waves, supporting the order coding model.
  • The primacy model showed comparable performance to the order code in predicting odor identity.
  • Odor mixture responses lay along geodesic lines connecting component odors.

Conclusions:

  • Odor information in the olfactory bulb is likely represented by two complementary strategies: primacy and order codes.
  • The findings suggest a sophisticated coding system within the olfactory bulb.
  • Both theories contribute to understanding how the brain processes olfactory information.