Your Nose’s Response to Odors is More than Just a ‘Simple Sum of Parts,’ Research Finds
A study presents mixing of odors frequently results in an enhancement of reaction through synergy, specifically when they are in comparatively low concentrations, or dominance of response by means of antagonism, specifically when they are ‘in high concentrations.’
Try sniffing freshly poured wine in a glass. The usual scientific perception would suggest that the fragrances' harmony engages sensory receptors in the nose that simply contribute to the individual odors encountered.
Nevertheless, a Kyushu University research presents that a much more compound process is taking place with some reactions being enhanced, and others repressed depending on the smells present.
Among mammals, the sense of smell begins with the odors' detection by receptors at the ends of special cells, also known as "olfactory sensory neurons" in the nose.
Each of these neurons contains just one receptor type "out of a large repertoire" that relies on the species with humans, which have roughly 400 types, and around 1000 in mice.
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Different Findings
While the brain's sensory processing information is known to be very vital for choosing and producing smells, comparatively little is still identified about the processes taking place where the odors are initially detected in the nose.
Using recently established approaches for extremely sensitive recording for the receptors' response in the living mice's nose, the research team which Graduate School of Medical Sciences at Kyushu University professor Takeshi Imai led, recently published a deeper understanding of how neurons in the nose re reacting to smells including their mixtures.
In the said study, published in Cell Reports, the researchers said it has formerly been considered that every odor stimulates a specific set of receptors and that the neurons' response to smell mixtures in the nose is a mere "sum of the reactions to each component."
However, at present, according to the paper's lead author, Shigenori Inagaki, now, there is evidence in rodents that the previous study finding is not the same.
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'Olfactory Sensory Neurons'
In this research, a recording of the olfactory sensory neurons' activity in a mouse's nose was recorded. Specifically, when an odor is shown, changes in activity can be observed as "changes in light intensity."
Measurement and evaluation such recording has resulted in the result that suppression and improvement of the reaction of these neurons in the nose are taking place when smells are mixed, spilling over the world's way of thinking that the reaction to odor "is a simple sum."
The recorded part, as indicated in the study, is roughly "0.5 mm by 9.5mm." Observing mice that were modified genetically for their neurons to produce "green light depending on the amount of calcium in them," the study authors could sensitively record the neurons' response in the noses of mice through the use of a two-photon microscope.
Based on the said recordings, the team of scientists found that smells could not just stimulate. Still, they can suppress the neurons' reaction. In the mice's noses, specifying complex interactions are taking place well before the indicators reach the brain or olfactory bulb for more processing.
Moreover, the study presented that mixing of smells or odors frequently results in an enhancement of reaction through synergy, specifically when they are in comparatively low concentrations, or dominance of response by means of antagonism, specifically when they are "in high concentrations."
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Sep 23, 2020 08:20 AM EDT
