The Sense of Scents, the Sense of Self
For this paper, I'd like to revisit some of the questions left unanswered in my last paper regarding the sense of smell. In that paper, I outlined some of what is now understood about how smells are identified and the initial levels of how that information is coded in the brain; for this paper I would like to trace that path (as much as possible) through to my experience of smell and then to see if my experience matches the proposed models. From this perspective, I'd like to take a last look at the "brain = behavior" equation and the notion of the "I - function" and see if I can't make some final sense of it all in a way which is not utterly dissonant with my own experiences.
Let's look at smell again, then. My last paper left off with the following conclusions regarding the olfactory system. There are between 500 and 1000 unique protein receptor genes which are expressed only in the olfactory epithelium. These receptors each respond to a unique odorant or to a unique feature on an odorant molecule (epitopes). It is suggested that there is a one - to - one relationship between a specific odorant, its protein receptor, and the sensory neuron: that is, any given sensory neuron expresses only one type of receptor and is therefore responsive to only one kind of odorant. Each type of neuron is randomly distributed across one of four zones within the olfactory epithelium. The information from this population coding is then reorganized, as these axons leave the epithelium and travel to the olfactory bulb, into a very specific, spatially organized map of activity across the several hundred kinds of receptors. The span between the 1000 types of receptor neurons, and discrimination amongst 10,000 odors, is bridged in the interpretation of the ratios and relationships of activity level across the population. The olfactory bulb was compared to an operators switchboard, and the process of odor identification was likened to determining which switchboard lights were flashing. The obvious question then becomes, what parts of the brain watch over the olfactory bulb, monitor its activity and interpret that activity? What parts of the brain assign meaning and identity to each pattern of stimulation, and then choose an appropriate response?
Some of these questions have been addressed by Walter Freeman in his investigations, and he has several useful insights into the process of preattentive perception, or the almost instantaneous recognition of the familiar.
The authors’ purpose is to raise awareness to the increase of plagiarism, as well as ways that faculty can not only combat the issue, but also educate students on the value of citations around someone else’s words. The article is primarily directed to students and
Perhaps the most notorious of burial practices originating in Egypt is that of mummification. Why such an extraordinary attempt was made to preserve cadavers may seem
The concept of aging out of foster care is referred to those children who are within the state foster care system and who are still in the system upon reaching the age of eighteen, twenty-one or have graduated from high school (Craft, 2014). The causes of children aging out of the foster care system is usually due to the children not finding a permanent home with an adoptive family, or the state for some reason has not reunited the child with his or her birth family before turning of age. Each state has a different regulation on what the age should be when a child ages out of the system. Many children are not ready to make the transition of being out on their own, therefore, some states have moved the age up to 21 years instead of 18 years (Craft, 2014). If the foster parents or parent chooses to keep caring for the child after he or she ages out, then the child is able to stay in their foster home until he or she is ready to make that step and move out. According to Cunningham and Diversi, many of the difficulties that foster youth face during their transition are known and read about in academic literature, but those who go through the process of aging out of foster care are largely missing from the academic literature (Cunningham & Diversi, 2013). Many children who are in the foste...
Addressing the needs of children in foster care has been an issue that has tried to be addressed in many ways. In 2001, approximately 300,000 children entered the foster care system, with the average time spent in placement equaling 33 months (Bass Shields, & Behrman, n.d.). Statistically, the longer a child is in the foster care system, the greater number of placements they will have, and instability increases each year (Bass Shields, & Behrman, n.d). I recently read a novel by a girl who was placed into the system at age two, and by age 12 she had already experienced 14 different placements (Rhodes-Courter, 2007). Stories such as this one are not uncommon in the foster care system, especially if the child is a member of a sibling group or
Scent is part of the five senses that are developed when an infant is still in the mother’s womb. It is processed by a part of the brain that correlates with memory, so at a young age an infant could differentiate who their mother is by scent. Odor is a sign and olfactory condition (Waskul & Vannini, 2008). As someone gets older they begin to develop scents they like and dislike. There are also scents that people find attractive and unattractive. When meeting another individual for the first time a human’s first instinct is to smell them without realizing it. For instance, have you ever sat by someone or hugged someone who smelled good or bad? If so, many people tend to associate the scent with attractiveness or unattractiveness depending on the level of smell. There have been many studies indicating that there is a strong correlation between odor and attractiveness. Although the scent is a universal and an undetectable smell it can influence the level of perceived attractiveness of another person.
The combine result of all these barriers resulted in foster youth being an at-risk vulnerable population. A multitude of negative factors contribute to understanding why foster youth underperform when
Nicks, Denver. "Western Black Rhino Declared Extinct." Time Science & Space. Time, 6 Nov. 2013. Web. 02 Dec. 2013. .
Due to the limited scope of this paper only some of the environmental issues along the Rio Grande River will be identified specifically, rapid population growth, growth of industries, air pollution, grand and surface water quality, ecosystems, deforestation, and the Rio Grande water quality.
Many reasons exist as to why the foster system is failing and a major one is the number of children in the program. Although the number of children in the foster care system has decreased about 11% since 2002, “…experts worry that the trend might now go into reverse” (Protecting 47). “In 2008 there were 463,000 children in the foster care system” (47), due to the actions of parents such as abuse, neglect and the use of drugs and/or alcohol can cause a child to be placed in foster care. These actions cause the number of children in the system to increase. In order for this number to decrease dramatically programs must be put in place to help find enough, stable homes for foster children. As a result of the economy, many states have “considered cutting down on child-welfare services, such as benefits for foster parents and the number of social workers they employ” (47). If there is a lack of social workers, it is less likely that a child will be placed in a home quickly. Wi...
...cines. They may also help you cope with it by teaching you how to cooperate with noise around you. When doctors check your ears that may find OME, it’s thin and watery. If fluid is still present after six weeks the treatment may include having more observations and having to take tests. For us to tell what foods and scents delight us, we use our sense of smell. Your sense of smell helps us to determine what we like to have to eat and wear on different types of occasions. Your sense of smell can also be used for other things like smelling nature around you and smelling the different kind of foods there are around the world. Smell has a chemoreceptor that respond to chemicals in an aqueous solution. Smell receptors are excited by the airborne chemicals that dissolve in fluids coating nasal membranes. The organ of smell is a yellow patch of pseudostratified epithelium.
The author reminds us of how our nose smell good odor by saying “and now it is the souring flowers of the bedraggled.” (par.5); the odor of flowers are most of the time good odors and make us feel good. When I feel bad sometimes, I find a flower and smell that flower because it does make me feel good and make me forget about my problem for a moment. Although, the author mostly questioned why our nose have to
Foster care is an agency that takes in more than 250,000 children EVERY year. With this many children entering the system every year; the amount of problems on finding the right caregiver for the child increases tremendously. When these problems are created there are many effects that can happen to the child that can last short-term and unfortunately long-term. Fortunately, there are multiple solutions for these problems that everyone can do so that everyone's position is improved. Foster care agencies can create negative situations due to the selection of the caregiver and the plethora, deluge, profusion, surplus, vast, prodigious, immense of problems that are created; however, there are several pathways that either party can take to improve the unpleasant situation and its effects.
Piaget’s developmental stages are ways of normal intellectual development. There are four different stages. The stages start at infant age and work all the way up to adulthood. The stages include things like judgment, thought, and knowledge of infants, children, teens, and adults. These four stages were names after Jean Piaget a developmental biologist and psychologist. Piaget recorded intellectual abilities and developments of infants, children, and teens. The four different stages of Piaget’s developmental stages are sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational. Sensorimotor is from birth up to twenty- four months of age. Preoperational which is toddlerhood includes from eighteen months old all the way to early childhood, seven years of age. Concrete operational is from the age of seven to twelve. Lastly formal operation is adolescence all the way through adulthood.
Sensory adaption is a very useful thing for us. Everyone's home has there own smell, I remember talking about this with a friend when I was little. I though her house smelled like a solon, made sinse due to her mom being a stylest. She though my home smelled like lemons, and my mom was a baker and cleaner. But I could not smell that myself. We don't smell what our homes smell like all the time due to sensory adaption. We smell this smell all the time so our senses get use to these smells. It would probley drive me crazy if I smell my house smell all the time so I am very thank ful for this. It also is helpful in the way of being able to smell other smells that are not normal, or could be danger. Like the smell of leaking gas, or something burning. Those smells are not normal all the time smells or or sences pick it up and warn us that there is something
This information could be used by everyone from Surgical Doctors to the average student to help them remember the material that they have associated with that particular scent. If an individual smells a particular scent while studying, and then smells that scent again when trying to recall that information, it will be easier for them than if they had not used the aroma. The goal of this experiment is to clarify if scent can truly help person recall information after they smelled it while