Neuroscience

Mice have distinct subsystem to handle smell associated with fear

A new study finds that mice have a distinct neural subsystem that links the nose to the brain and is associated with instinctually important smells such as those emitted by predators. That insight, published online this week ...

Genetics

Olfactory neurons adapt to the surrounding environment

Olfactory receptors, present on the surface of sensory neurons in the nasal cavity, recognize odorant molecules and relay this information to the brain. How do these neurons manage to detect a large variability of signals ...

Genetics

Mapping the neural circuit of innate responses to odors

A team of neuroscientists at the Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown (CCU), in Lisbon (Portugal), has performed one of the first studies into the central neural circuits (or higher brain areas) that underlie innate responses ...

Neuroscience

Lost sense of smell often invisible, untreatable problem

Mimi Koberlein woke up one morning unable to smell the bacon her husband was frying for breakfast. Confused, she ran to the shower, grabbed her shampoo and inhaled deeply. Nothing. Two years later, Koberlein, 47, still can't ...

Neuroscience

Wiring for smell sets up early, then persists

To accommodate a lifetime of scents and aromas, mammals have hundreds of genes that each produce a different odorant receptor. The complex and diverse olfactory system they build remains adaptable, but a new study in the ...

page 2 from 3