PubMed · 11215945
[The olfactory sense].
Abstract
BACKGROUND: In mammals, olfactory stimuli influence various aspects of life including feeding, social behaviour, and reproduction. METHODS: We review the progress in olfactory research in the last decade. RESULTS: In this era of gene-based techniques, a breakthrough in our knowledge on odorant and pheromone detection has occurred. Most importantly, a large gene family of odorant receptors expressed in the olfactory epithelium has been discovered. Subsets of receptor cells express one and only one receptor type and send their axons to a corresponding glomerulus in the olfactory bulb, giving rise to an odor-specific map in this structure. Two gene families of pheromone receptors expressed in the vomeronasal organ have also been discovered, and a role of pheromones in mammalian reproduction has been established. INTERPRETATION: Although the crucial steps in odorant binding and transduction to nerve signals have been revealed, the central processing of this sensory information is basically unknown. Moreover, whether pheromones serve a significant role in human behaviour is still an open question.
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S Bjering, I I Deinboll, J Maehlen. 2000-12-10. [The olfactory sense].. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11215945/
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