Neuroscience

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 ...

Genetics

Gene switch for odorant receptors

The olfactory sensory neurons in the nasal mucosa perceive the myriad smells in the air with the aid of odorant receptors. Each sensory neuron chooses one and only one receptor gene for expression. The probability that a ...

Neuroscience

New insights into how the brain perceives and processes odors

New research makes advances in understanding how smells are perceived and represented in the brain. The findings were presented at Neuroscience 2019, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience and the world's largest ...

Neuroscience

No two people smell the same

A difference at the smallest level of DNA—one amino acid on one gene—can determine whether you find a given smell pleasant. A different amino acid on the same gene in your friend's body could mean he finds the same odor ...

Other

Giving paralysed people control and independence

A device that offers paralysed individuals - including those in the most severe 'locked-in' state - better control and communication has been developed and improved, thanks to a project funded by the European Research Council ...

Medical research

Researchers use gene therapy to restore sense of smell in mice

(Medical Xpress)—A team of scientists from Johns Hopkins and other institutions report that restoring tiny, hair-like structures to defective cells in the olfactory system of mice is enough to restore a lost sense of smell. ...

Medical research

New perspectives on sensory mechanisms

The latest Perspectives in General Physiology series examines the mechanisms of visual, aural, olfactory, and tactile processes that inform us about the environment. The series appears in the September 2011 issue of the Journal ...

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