The sense of smell or olfaction is the special sense through which smells (or odour) are perceived. The sense of smell has many functions including detecting desirable foods, liazards and pheromones and plays a role in taste.
In human, it occurs when an odour binds to receptor
within the nasal cavity, transmitting a signal through the olfactory system,
glomerule aggregate signals these receptors and transmit them to the olfactory
bulb where the sensory input will start to interact with part of the brain
responsible for smell, identification memory and motion.
There are many different causes for alternation or
lack or distortion to a normal sense of smell and can include damage to the
nose or smell receptors or central problem affecting the brain. Some causes
include upper respiratory infection, traumatic brain injury, and
neurodegenerative disease.
Early scientific studies of sense of smell include the
extensive doctoral dissertation of Eleanor Gamble published in 1898 which
compared olfactory to other stimulus modalities and implied that smell had
lower intensity discrimination.
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