Taste & Smell Pre-lab
Web questions
1.How many odors can the
olfactory system recognize?
• The smell, or
olfactory
system can
distinguish
thousands of
odors.
2.Where is the olfactory lining
located?
• In the nose
3.How does the olfactory bulb
interpret different odors?
• In the olfactory
bulb, information
from the receptors
are organized into
patterns that the
brain may interpret
as different odors.
4.Which system senses and
processes odors?
• The olfactory system, which senses and
processes odors (in the brain/nervous
system), is one of the oldest and most vital
parts of the brain.
• FYI:
• For most animals, it is the primary mode of
communication and influences many
important functions, including reproduction
and taste. Scientists are just beginning to
learn how the olfactory system works.
5.We know the nose is used for
sense of smell. How does it work?
• The nose contains
specialized
sensory nerve
cells, or neurons,
with hairlike fibers
called clilia on one
end.
6.Where does olfactory information
travel?
• Each neuron sends a
nerve fiber called an
axon to the olfactory
bulb, a brain structure
just above the nose.
7.How do we detect flavor?
• Olfactory information travels not
only to the limbic system -primitive brain structures that
govern emotions, behavior, and
memory storage -- but also to the
brain's cortex, or outer layer,
where conscious thought occurs.
In addition, it combines with taste
information in the brain to create
the sensation of flavor.
8.Describe the path odor molecules
take from inhalation to behavior.
• Odor molecules entering the nose are thought to be
recognized by receptors found in cilia of olfactory
neurons.
• Neurons with specific receptors are arranged randomly
within zones in the olfactory lining of the nasal cavity.
• Signals from neurons with the same receptors converge
on structures called glomeruli in the olfactory bulb.
• The pattern of activity in these glomeruli creates a
pattern or code that the brain may interpret as different
odors.
• The information is carried by nerve fibers to many brain
regions, where it affects thoughts, emotions, and
behavior.
Sense of Smell
Web Questions
1. The sense of smell plays a
vital role in our sense of
well-being
life
_____ and quality of _____.
2. No two people _____
smell the
same way.
same odor the _____
Everyone has his or her own
unique odor-identity or “smell
fingerprint.
3. The average human being is
able to recognize
approximately _____
10,000
different odors.
taste is greatly
4. Our sense of _____
influenced by our sense of
smell.
5. Our sense of smell in
responsible for about
80 of what we taste.
_____%
6. Without our sense of smell,
our sense of taste is limited
to only _____distinct
five
sensations: sweet, salty,
sour, bitter, and the newly
discovered “umami” or
savory sensation.
7. All other flavors
_____ that we
experience come from smell.
8. When our nose is blocked, as
by a cold, most foods seem
bland __________.
tasteless
_____or
9. Our sense of smell becomes
stronger
_____ when we are hungry
10. A larger portion of the brains
of animals (and fish) are
devoted to the sense of
smell than that of humans.
_____
11. Your nose can smell
directionally telling you
__________,
where an odor originates.
12. Your sense of smell is least
morning
acute in the __________;
our ability to perceive odors
increases as the day
__________
wears on.
13. A woman’s sense of smell is
keener
_____ than a man’s.
14. It is important to understand
that throughout every day and
night of our lives we smell a
wide variety of odors without
aware of them at all.
being _____
15. People recall smells with
65
_____%
accuracy after a
year, while the visual recall of
photos sinks to about
50 after only three
_____%
months.