Sensation and Perception: The Chemical Senses: Perceiving Odor and Taste

Steven Yantis
Sensation and Perception
Chapter 13:
The Chemical Senses:
Perceiving Odor and Taste
Copyright © 2014 by Worth Publishers

What is an Odor?
• The olfactory system detects molecules of
odorants provided they are of sufficient
concentration to stimulate receptors.
• Most odorants are made from only 5
different atoms: carbon, hydrogen, oxygen,
nitrogen, and sulfur.
• Olfaction is an “analytic” sense; people are
able to identify individual odors within
mixtures
350 Different Receptor Types
• Odorants = Molecules that olfactory
receptors “recognize” and respond to by
producing neural signals that the brain
represents as perceptions of different odors.
What is your favorite odorant/smell?

Figure 13.1 Some Common Sources of Odorants
Yantis, Steven, Sensation and Perception, First Edition
Detection and Identification of Odors
• Source, distance, and area all affect the

concentration of odors.
• Like other senses, it is possible to determine
absolute and difference thresholds for olfactory
stimuli.
• When individuals smell odors without context,
they have trouble identifying them.
• Training and experience also affect identification.
Figure 13.2 Measuring Olfactory Detection Thresholds
Table 13.1
Reduced Olfactory Performance
 Age
 Smoking
 Certain diseases (schizophrenia, AD, PD, Down’s syndrome)
 Injury
Anosmia = The loss of the ability to perceive odors

Figure 13.3 Changes in Odor Identification Ability with Age and Smoking
Adaptation to Odors
• Like our other senses, the olfactory sense is

responsive to change and exhibits adaptation to
constant stimulation.
• The phenomenon of cross-adaptation (reduced
sensitivity to similar odors) also occurs in
olfaction. Molecular similarity does not always
predict cross-adaptation.
Figure 13.4 Olfactory Adaptation and Cross-Adaptation
Anatomical and Neural basis of Odor
Perception
1. Orthonasal path – outside air
2. Retronasal path – odorants released from food (essential for the
perception of flavor)
3. Olfactory epithelium - contains three types of cells: basal,
supporting, and olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs).
4. Stimuli traveling the orthonasal route pass by the turbinates (also
known as nasal conchae) that help direct the inhaled air.
a) The ORNs transduce physical stimuli into neural signals.
b) ORNs live only a few weeks before being replaced by a new
ORN generated via basal cells.
c) Each ORN, examples of G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs),
has cilia that project into the nasal mucus and come into direct
contact with olfactory stimuli.
Figure 13.5 Anatomy of the Olfactory System
Nobel Prize Winning Research
The approximately 1,000 genes expressing GPCRs were
discovered by Buck & Axel (who received a Nobel Prize
in Physiology or Medicine 2004). These genes represent
roughly 4% of the human genome.
http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laure
ates/2004/press.html
All together there are 3-7 million ORNs (10-20,000 of

each of the roughly 350 types) sending their signals to
approximately 5000 glomeruli.
Figure 13.8 Molecular Basis of Population Codes for Odors
Figure 13.9 Patterns of Activation in the Olfactory Bulb
Representing Odors in the Brain
• Odors leave the olfactory bulb:
a. Piriform cortex (aka primary olfactory cortex)
b. Amygdala
c. entorhinal cortex.
d. All of these areas send signals to the orbitofrontal
cortex (involved with determining whether a stimulus
is positive or negative).
e. Specifically, the amygdala (involved with emotions)
sends signals to the hypothalamus and the entorhinal
cortex sends signals to the hippocampus.
 Note that olfactory signals do not travel through the thalamus.

Figure 13.10 Olfactory Structures and Pathways: Nose to Brain
Anatomy (cont.)
• The piriform (primary olfactory) cortex is

composed of the anterior and posterior sections.
• The anterior piriform cortex (APC) deals with
structure while the posterior piriform cortex (PPC)
deals with quality {olfactory objects}.
• The piriform cortex is involved with adaptation.
Unlike the ORNs’ rapid recovery from adaptation,
the neurons in the piriform cortex activation
decays take close to one minute to occur.
PET Images of Aversive Odors
Figure 13.11 Brain Activity in Response to Aversive Odors

Odors, Emotion, and Memory
• People are very good at determining whether they
find an odor positive or negative despite the fact
that they might not be able to identify it.
• Classification of odors as positive or negative is,
at least in part, learned behavior.
• Memories for odors are long-lasting, rapidly
formed, and excellent triggers of emotions.
• The strong link to memory is assumed to be due to
olfaction’s early evolutionary development and
more direct links to areas like the hypothalamus
and hippocampus.
Figure 13.13 Memories Evoked by Odors Versus Memories Evoked by Words or Pictures
Pheromones
• The existence of human pheromones remains

controversial.
• While a vomeronasal olfactory system to detect

pheromones has been found in many species,
research in humans suggests (overall) that we do
not possess one.
What is Taste? What is Flavor?
• The stimuli for taste (called tastants) are molecules
that can dissolve in saliva.
• Researchers agree on five tastants: sweet, sour,

salt, bitter, and umami.
• Taste is not the same as flavor; the main

contributor to flavor is smell. Other contributors
include tactile properties (e.g., texture,
temperature), vision, and audition.
Table 13.2
Figure 13.14 Taste and Flavor
Anatomical and Neural Basis of Taste
and Flavor Perception
• Taste buds (the structures that house taste receptor cells)
are found in several areas.
 Majority of taste buds are located on the tongue

 Some are found on the soft palate, epiglottis, and upper
esophagus.
• On the tongue, taste buds are found in three of the four

types of papillae: fungiform, foliate, and circumvallate.
• Humans have between 3,000 and 12,000 taste buds, each
of which has 40-100 taste receptor cells (TRCs).
Figure 13.15 Tongue, Papillae, and Taste Buds
Cell to Cell Signaling
• Taste receptor cells are unusual in that they do not

have synapses with cranial nerve fibers.
• It is thought they utilize cell-to-cell signaling as
one method of indicating the substances
transduced.
• While gustatory nerve fibers can respond to more
than one taste, they respond best to one type of
taste.
Figure 13.16 Taste Receptor Cells, Cellto-Cell Signaling, and the Production of
Action Potentials in Cranial Nerve Fibers
Figure 13.17 Receptor Cells and Presynaptic Cells
Two Models
1. Labeled-line suggests cranial nerve fibers are

responsible for information about only one taste.
2. Across-fiber pattern suggests cranial nerve fibers

are responsible for information from several
tastes.
 Overall, the evidence supports the across-fiber

pattern model.
Figure 13.18 Gustatory Structures and Pathways: Mouth to Brain
More Info About Fig. 13.18
• Cranial nerves VII (facial; front 2/3 of tongue and

soft palate), IX (glossopharyngeal; back third of
tongue) and X (vagus; epiglottis and upper
esophagus) carry signals to the brain.
• The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) integrates

information from taste, smell, sight, and touch to
yield flavor.
Individual Differences in Taste
Perception
• People vary most (genetically) in their ability to
taste bitter substances.
• There are three classes of responses to bitter:
1. Individuals who taste them more strongly than others
(supertasters; approximately 25% of the population)
2. Individuals who can taste them (tasters; approximately
50% of the population)
3. Individuals who only taste them when there are at high
concentrations (nontasters; approximately 25% of the
population)
Figure 13.19 eNose Sensors
Figure 13.20 Odor-Tracking eNose
Product Testing: Sugarest tm
http://vimeo.com/384043

Sensation and Perception: The Chemical Senses: Perceiving Odor and Taste

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Steven Yantis

Sensation and Perception

Copyright © 2014 by Worth Publishers

What is your favorite odorant/smell?

• Source, distance, and area all affect the

Anosmia = The loss of the ability to perceive odors

• Like our other senses, the olfactory sense is

All together there are 3-7 million ORNs (10-20,000 of

 Note that olfactory signals do not travel through the thalamus.

• The piriform (primary olfactory) cortex is

Figure 13.11 Brain Activity in Response to Aversive Odors

• The existence of human pheromones remains

• While a vomeronasal olfactory system to detect

• Researchers agree on five tastants: sweet, sour,

• Taste is not the same as flavor; the main

 Majority of taste buds are located on the tongue

• On the tongue, taste buds are found in three of the four

• Taste receptor cells are unusual in that they do not

1. Labeled-line suggests cranial nerve fibers are

2. Across-fiber pattern suggests cranial nerve fibers

 Overall, the evidence supports the across-fiber

• Cranial nerves VII (facial; front 2/3 of tongue and

• The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) integrates

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