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Related Concept Videos

Olfaction01:25

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.
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 27, 2026

A Lateralized Odor Learning Model in Neonatal Rats for Dissecting Neural Circuitry Underpinning Memory Formation
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Published on: August 18, 2014

A possible protocognitive role for odor in human infant development

S Van Toller1, M Kendal-Reed

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of Warwick, Coventry, United Kingdom.

Brain and Cognition
|December 1, 1995
PubMed
Summary

Olfaction, the sense of smell, acts as a semiotic sense by forming learned associations through nonlinguistic metonymic processes. This plays a crucial role in the genesis of cognition, especially in mother-child relationships.

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Semiotics
  • Cognitive Science

Background:

  • Semiochemistry and olfaction are increasingly studied.
  • Semiotics utilizes metaphors and metonyms for understanding processes.
  • Olfaction's role in learned associations is well-established in animals and humans.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To propose olfaction as a semiotic sense.
  • To explain how olfaction facilitates nonlinguistic transmission of information.
  • To explore the protocognitive role of smell in cognition.

Main Methods:

  • Review of current literature on olfaction and semiochemistry.
  • Extension of the concept of metonymy to non-linguistic transmission.
  • Analysis of olfactory relationships, particularly mother-child dyads.

Main Results:

  • Olfaction can be understood as a semiotic sense.
  • Nonlinguistic metonymic learning processes are key to olfactory signaling.
  • Biological odors transmit complex information, especially in animal communication.

Conclusions:

  • The sense of smell plays a vital protocognitive role in the development of cognition.
  • In utero and postnatal olfactory learning are crucial mechanisms.
  • Olfaction's capacity for learned associations underpins its role in cognitive genesis.