Medical Xpress: PHYSorg news tagged with: sense of smell http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Animals learn to fine-tune their sniffs Animals use their noses to focus their sense of smell, much the same way that humans focus their eyes, new research at the University of Chicago shows. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-animals-fine-tune.html Neuroscience Tue, 30 Oct 2012 18:00:14 EST news270837778 Rats recruited to hunt for TB in Mozambique A swarm of trained rats is on its way to Mozambique to help the country's over-stretched health system detect tuberculosis in patients, officials said Friday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-rats-tb-mozambique.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Fri, 12 Oct 2012 10:30:45 EST news269256635 Study suggests that a poor sense of smell may be a marker for psychopathic traits People with psychopathic tendencies have an impaired sense of smell, which points to inefficient processing in the front part of the brain. These findings by Mehmet Mahmut and Richard Stevenson, from Macquarie University in Australia, are published online in Springer's journal Chemosensory Perception. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-poor-marker-psychopathic-traits.html Psychology & Psychiatry Thu, 20 Sep 2012 11:26:28 EST news267359139 Gene therapy restores sense of smell, may aid research into other diseases caused by cilia defects Scientists have restored the sense of smell in mice through gene therapy for the first time—a hopeful sign for people who can't smell anything from birth or lose it due to disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-gene-therapy-aid-diseases-cilia.html Medical research Sun, 02 Sep 2012 13:00:01 EST news265786223 Lesson in sleep learning: Associations formed in brains of sleeping volunteers remained intact when subjects were awake Is sleep learning possible? A new Weizmann Institute study appearing today in Nature Neuroscience has found that if certain odors are presented after tones during sleep, people will start sniffing when they hear the tones alone – even when no odor is present – both during sleep and, later, when awake. In other words, people can learn new information while they sleep, and this can unconsciously modify their waking behavior. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-lesson.html Neuroscience Sun, 26 Aug 2012 13:00:01 EST news265186197 Smelling a skunk after a cold: Brain changes after a stuffed nose protect the sense of smell Has a summer cold or mold allergy stuffed up your nose and dampened your sense of smell? We take it for granted that once our nostrils clear, our sniffers will dependably rebound and alert us to a lurking neighborhood skunk or a caramel corn shop ahead. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-skunk-cold-brain-stuffed-nose.html Neuroscience Sun, 12 Aug 2012 13:00:17 EST news263919216 No new neurons in the human olfactory bulb (Medical Xpress) -- Research from Karolinska Institutet shows that the human olfactory bulb - a structure in the brain that processes sensory input from the nose - differs from that of other mammals in that no new neurons are formed in this area after birth. The discovery, which is published in the scientific journal Neuron, is based on the age-determination of the cells using the carbon-14 method, and might explain why the human sense of smell is normally much worse than that of other animals. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-neurons-human-olfactory-bulb.html Neuroscience Thu, 24 May 2012 05:55:16 EST news257057690 Gene mapping reveals architecture that controls expression of genes responsible for our sense of smell Within the nasal cavity, millions of sensory neurons in a postage-stamp-sized patch of tissue called the olfactory epithelium control our sense of smell. Thanks to the exquisitely controlled expression of some 300 different olfactory receptor genes, each neuron can detect a small number of distinct volatile odorants. How these genes are regulated, however, has long been a mystery. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-gene-reveals-architecture-genes-responsible.html Genetics Fri, 18 May 2012 08:44:33 EST news256549451 Smell tests don't predict Alzheimer's, study finds (HealthDay) -- Smell tests should not be used to predict Alzheimer's disease, the most common form of dementia, according to a new study. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-dont-alzheimer.html Alzheimer's disease & dementia Fri, 11 May 2012 10:10:01 EST news255948441 Virginia man injured in gun accident gets new face (Update) (AP) -- After 15 years of wearing a mask and living as a recluse, a 37-year-old Virginia man disfigured in a gun accident got a new face, nose, teeth and jaw in what University of Maryland physicians say is the most extensive face transplant ever performed. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-virginia-gun-accident.html Surgery Tue, 27 Mar 2012 12:55:05 EST news252071698 Anxiety boosts sense of smell Anxious people have a heightened sense of smell when it comes to sniffing out a threat, according to a new study by Elizabeth Krusemark and Wen Li from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the US. Their work¹ is published online in Springer's journal Chemosensory Perception. The study is part of a special issue² of this journal on neuroimaging the chemical senses. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-anxiety-boosts.html Neuroscience Thu, 22 Mar 2012 10:52:10 EST news251632304 People without a sense of smell have enhanced social insecurity People born without a sense of smell experience higher social insecurity and increased risk for depression, according to a study published Mar. 21 in the open access journal PLoS ONE. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-people-social-insecurity.html Psychology & Psychiatry Wed, 21 Mar 2012 17:00:16 EST news251557242 Open your eyes and smell the roses: Activating the visual cortex improves our sense of smell A new study reveals for the first time that activating the brain's visual cortex with a small amount of electrical stimulation actually improves our sense of smell. The finding published in the Journal of Neuroscience by researchers at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital - The Neuro, McGill University and the Monell Chemical Senses Center, Philadelphia, revises our understanding of the complex biology of the senses in the brain. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-eyes-roses-visual-cortex.html Neuroscience Tue, 28 Feb 2012 17:00:17 EST news249669648 The moth and the air freshener: The secrets of scent University of Arizona Regents' Professor John G. Hildebrand has been elected to the Council of the National Academy of Sciences. In addition, he is being honored for his lifetime accomplishments on how olfaction, the sense of smell, influences the behavior of animals, from bugs to humans. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-moth-air-freshener-secrets-scent.html Neuroscience Fri, 24 Feb 2012 09:33:41 EST news249298393 Neuroscientists find genetic trigger that makes stem cells differentiate in nose epithelia University of California, Berkeley, neuroscientists have discovered a genetic trigger that makes the nose renew its smell sensors, providing hope for new therapies for people who have lost their sense of smell due to trauma or old age. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-neuroscientists-genetic-trigger-stem-cells.html Neuroscience Wed, 07 Dec 2011 12:29:07 EST news242483333 Early sign of Alzheimer's reversed in lab One of the earliest known impairments caused by Alzheimer's disease - loss of sense of smell – can be restored by removing a plaque-forming protein in a mouse model of the disease, a study led by a Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine researcher finds. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-early-alzheimer-reversed-lab.html Neuroscience Wed, 30 Nov 2011 12:30:09 EST news241878591 Researcher finds elderly lose ability to distinguish between odors Scientists studying how the sense of smell changes as people age, found that olfactory sensory neurons in those 60 and over showed an unexpected response to odor that made it more difficult to distinguish specific smells, putting them at greater risk from dangerous chemicals and poor nutrition. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-elderly-ability-distinguish-odors.html Neuroscience Thu, 10 Nov 2011 12:45:00 EST news240151415 Alzheimer's protein kills nerve cells in nose A protein linked to Alzheimer's disease kills nerve cells that detect odors, according to an animal study in the September 28 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience. The findings shed light on why people with Alzheimer's disease often lose their sense of smell early on in the course of the disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-alzheimer-protein-nerve-cells-nose.html Neuroscience Tue, 27 Sep 2011 17:00:01 EST news236351866 Scientists discover an organizing principle for our sense of smell The fact that certain smells cause us pleasure or disgust would seem to be a matter of personal taste. But new research at the Weizmann Institute shows that odors can be rated on a scale of pleasantness, and this turns out to be an organizing principle for the way we experience smell. The findings, which appeared today in Nature Neuroscience, reveal a correlation between the response of certain nerves to particular scents and the pleasantness of those scents. Based on this correlation, the researchers could tell by measuring the nerve responses whether a subject found a smell pleasant or unpleasant. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-scientists-principle.html Neuroscience Mon, 26 Sep 2011 10:11:06 EST news236250654 Not senseless -- watching the brain relearning the sense of smell Neural and biochemical processes that are affected by the loss of olfactory sensory perception are now being explored. These studies provide insight into the effects of the loss of smell on corresponding relevant brain areas. One such project, conducted with support from the Austrian Science Fund FWF, is studying the reasons behind this illness that, surprisingly, affects many people. In particular, the processes in individuals who learn to smell again after having lost this ability are being examined. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-senseless-brain-relearning.html Neuroscience Wed, 29 Jun 2011 13:26:48 EST news228572793 What rat breath can teach us about food preference, sense of smell and taste (Medical Xpress) -- Would your favorite dinner taste the same if you could not smell it? Does a sense of smell require a sense of taste? Katz, an associate professor of psychology and neuroscience, set out to find some answers. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-rat-food.html Neuroscience Mon, 02 May 2011 06:28:36 EST news223536497 Hunger hormone enhances sense of smell An appetite-stimulating hormone causes people and animals to sniff odors more often and with greater sensitivity, according to a new study in the April 13 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience. The findings suggest ghrelin may enhance the ability to find and identify food. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-04-hunger-hormone.html Neuroscience Tue, 12 Apr 2011 17:58:18 EST news221849880