Information 

Sensations that come from our brain and our nose alert us for pleasure or danger, and it lets us smell odors from food and other substances. The sense that help us smell are called olfaction.    The process of smelling  all starts when chemical molecules from different substances enter inside your nose, and then they dissolve in the mucus of a membrane that has the name of "olfactory epithelium", that is in the nose. It's found 7 cm from your nostrils. After, those molecules go into the cells. Then the cells send a message to your brain.

Did you know that that's how you can smell?

The olfactory track is a track that transmits signals to your brain. After, the signals travel to different places in your brain, they are: the olfactory cortex, the hippocampus amygdala, and the hypothalamus. Most of these locations are a part of the limbic system, which is a part of your memory. That's why when you smell a substance, it reminds you of souvenirs associated  with that odor.

Have you ever wondered why dogs have a better sense of smell than we do? We'll explain it to you. Hair cells are receptors in the olfactory epithelium that respond to the chemical products that enter the olfactory system. In these cells, there are little hairs that are called "cilia"  and from one end to the other there is an axon. In humans, there are 40 million olfactory receptors, but in dogs, there are about 2 billion olfactory receptors!

Nobody knows how olfactory receptors are caused to react. Maybe it's the size or the form of a chemical  molecule. Maybe even a change in its electrical activity. The electrical activity that produces itself in the hair cells is  transmitted to the olfactory bulb. After, the information is then passed on to the mistral cells in the olfactory bulb.

You probably know that when you have a cold, your nose prevents you from smelling. That's because molecules that bring odors can't reach the olfactory receptors.

HOME