This is a test of the olfactory senses. Olfactory senses (sense of smell) are due to the olfactory cells being activated by odiferous molecules coming in contact with the olfactory vessels located in your nasal cavity. The nasal cavity is a tube that functions as a pathway that leads odiferous molecules to the olfactory epithelium. This epithelium is made of three different types of cells. The first type of cell is a basal cell, a stem cell that can later form into the receptor cells that line the nasal cavity. The second type of cell is called a supported cell, a cell that contains microvilli and secretory granules. The third type of cell is the receptor cell, neurons that receives a sends the signals activated by odors. (Vokshoor, 2013) The nasal cavity houses over one hundred million olfactory receptors. These olfactory receptors have the ability to recognize and distinguish approximately ten thousand different odors. One olfactory receptor has the ability to recognize ten different odors. When an olfactory receptor comes in contact with an odor the neuron within the cell excites. The neuron sends a signal to neurons in the olfactory bulb. Large amounts of chemicals bind to a wide variety of receptors. Multiple receptors can recognize a single odor. Combinations of receptors recognize different odorants. The identity of different odors are encoded, or represented, by a “Combinational coding scheme”. (Vokshoor, 2013) Each of these receptors send messages to the olfactory bulb where the scent is recognized. The olfactory bulb is located inferior to the frontal lobe. This bulb contains several synaptic layers. (Vokshoor, 2013) The olfactory senses have been a large part in survival for animals in the past and present. Animals use ... ... middle of paper ... ...’s olfactory senses’ ability to distinguish between artificial and natural scents. It also tested which fragrances were the easiest and most difficult to distinguish, as well as if gender played a roll in distinguishing scents. It was found that humans are indeed capable of distinguishing between artificial and natural scents. The results showed that women have a stronger ability to distinguish a difference in scents than males. Works Cited Melville, Kate, Rusty Rockets, and Will Parker. "How Does The Nose Know - An Alphabet Of Odor." How Does The Nose Know - An Alphabet Of Odor. SCI GOGO, 22 Mar. 2013. Web. 25 Nov. 2013. . Vokshoor, Amir. "Olfactory System Anatomy." Olfactory System Anatomy. Medscape, 15 Sept. 2013. Web. 26 Nov. 2013. .
In Lynda Barry’s Common Scents, she considers scents a demon for many reasons. One reason being that everyone has his or her own scent preference and scent in general, yet we also judge the way that other people smell. When the woman whose house smelled like a fresh bus bathroom talking about the smells of different Asian people’s houses, Lynda notes that she was “free with her observations about the smells of others” (18). She sprays her house with disinfectant sprays and air fresheners, which to her smells better that whatever her house smelt like before, but to others, such as Lynda’s grandmother, these smells are too strong and are trying to hide the fact that not everything smells good all the time.
Yeomans, Martin R. "Understanding Individual Differences in Acquired Flavour Liking in Humans." Chemosensory Perception 3.1 (2010): 34-41. Print.
The first way Laila’s brain guesses that her fiends have ordered pizza at the dorm is because of her ability to smell the pizza. Her ability to smell is because her first cranial nerve, also known as the olfactory nerve, is functioning well. This nerve is responsible for relaying sensory data to the brain and results in the sense of smell. Olfactory receptors are located in the mucosa in the nasal cavity. When airborne chemicals and particles travel to the nasal cavity, they interact with the receptors. Despite the olfactory nerve being part of the nervous system, it does not join the brainstem and is considered the shortest cranial nerve. When Laila breathes in air, the molecules attach to her olfactory mucosa and her olfactory receptors
Variation in PTC sensitivity was first discovered in a lab incident in the early 1930s by Arthur L. Fox, an OSHA officer (Fox 1932), when Fox was pouring some PTC powder into a bottle and some “flew around in the air”, a co-worker nearby, C. R. Noller complained that the dust tasted bitter, but Fox insisted he could not taste anything. The two then took turns tasting the PTC powder and found they really differed dramatically in sensitivity. Fox tested “a large number” of people and found a distinct variation was common regardless of age, sex and ethnicity. He classified those people into two categories, those able to taste the PTC at very low concentrations whom he referred to as “tasters” and those unable to taste the PTC except at very high concentrations whom he referred to as “nontasters” or “taste blind”.2 Later several scientists including Fisher, Ford and Huxley (Fisher 1939) and others set out tests for PTC taste sensitivity and the implications of variability of the findings. However, despite almost 70 years of interest, these studies were missing a firm grasp of the molecular genetics of bitter-taste sensitivity.2
2011). This hypothesis was put to the test by Pelchat et al. in 2011, who had volunteers donate both regular urine and asparagus urine, then presented the volunteers with samples of urine from all the volunteers to see whether or not they could detect the scent in the samples, of not just their own urine but in others as well. The results of this experiment revealed that six percent of the volunteers were unable to detect the asparagus odor in the urine samples, which highly suggests that there is an anosmia present for the asparagus odor. However, these results do not prove the anosmia because the urine samples used contained varying amounts of the sulfurous compounds meaning that some of the samples could have had ample amounts of the sulfur molecules while other samples could have had lesser amounts making it either easier or more difficult for the different subject’s to perceive the odor. Much like the experiment conducted by Lison et al. in 1980 this experiment really just proved that at varying concentrations different people can smell the odor. It did not present clear cut data that proved whether there really are “smellers” and “nonsmellers.”
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.
Taste and smell are chemical senses. Taste is a composite of five basic sensations—sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami—and of the aromas that interact with information from the taste receptor cells of the taste buds.
Briefly describe the path of information from the targeted sensory organs (eye, ear, skin, and nose) to the brain.
Corbin, Cameron (2006), Sex Differences in Taste Preferences in Humans. Unpublished Senior Thesis. Wofford College, Spartansburg, SC. 1-30
The five senses include sight, smell, touch, taste, and hearing. Sight is the power of seeing objects and people. To see we use our eyes, our eye is a sphere with a diameter of about 2.5 cm or 1 inch. Our eyes include the eyebrows, eyelids, conjunctiva, lacrimal apparatus, and extrinsic eye muscles. The eyelids are thin, skin covered folds supported by the connective tissue sheets called tarsal plates and are separated by the palpebral fissure and meet at medial and lateral angles of the eye. The eyelid muscle cause blinking every 3-7 seconds and when the objects get in your eye, the flexibility is activated to protect the eye. The eyelashes also protect the eye. Anything that touches the eyelashes is blown away because it will cause your eye to blink. The conjunctiva in our eyes is a mucous membrane; it helps to line the eyelids. The function of the conjunctiva is to produce a lubricating mucus that prevents the eyes from drying out. A conjunctival sac is where contact lens lies and occurs when the eyes are closed and a slit like space occurs. An inflammation of the conjunctiva is called conjunctivitis and happens when the eye get red and really irritated. The lacrimal apparatus in our eyes drains the lacrimal secretions into the nasal cavity. The lacrimal fluid in the eye cleans and protects eye as it moistens. The fluid contains mucous, antibodies, and lysosome. The extrinsic eye muscles originate and insert into outer surface of the eyeball. The extrinsic eye muscles allow the eye to follow a moving object and provide wires to maintain shape of eyeball and hold it in orbit. When movements of these muscles are not the same, a person cannot focus on images correctly and see two images instead. The eye is called an eyeball and ha...
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
Jones, D. H. (2006-2010). Chapter 3: The Nervous System and the Brain. Retrieved from http://www.nasalspecific.com/nasalspecific_011.htm
The nose can smell thanks to the ten million scent receptors that make up the Olfactory Epithelium(smell device). The Olfactory Epithelium is located about 7 cm up inside the nose.These receptors can differentiate from over 10,000 different smells. The receptors send signals to the Olfactory Bulb. Those signals then travel to the brain which interprets what you are smelling by combining the different signals of the receptors. Many parts of the brain are affected by these signals.
Recent research by Holland, Hendriks and Aarts (2005) has evaluated the effects of odor perception on behavior. According to Holland et al. (2005) associations may be formed between odors and other sensory information. In their research, they explored whether associations that are activated upon odor perception would shape behavior outside of the participant 's awareness. For the experiment, Holland and colleagues tested the hypothesis that exposure to a scent commonly found in all-purpose cleaners would influence a cleaning behavior from the individuals exposed to the scent (the prime).
The sensory system is not a system by itself in the human body; it is actually a sub system or a part of the nervous system. When sensory receptors/neurons from the sensory organs detect a stimulus, this information is sent to the brain through sensory neurons and the reaction to that stimulus is sent back to that area of the body where the stimulus was present. Another strong relationship between the nervous system and the sensory system is that there are parts of the brain (the brain is part of the central nervous system) that are involved in sensory perception such as thalamus as well as the lobes of the brain such as the parietal lobe (this is mainly involved in the senses of smell, touch, and taste).