Senses: Olfaction

Question 1

olfaction

Answer 1

main sensory apparatus, forms the lining of the nasal cavity and contains 3 major cell types: support cells, basal cells, and olfactory receptor cells

Question 2

how many olfactory receptor cells are in humans?

Answer 2

6 million

Question 3

how many odours can humans detect?

Answer 3

5000+

Question 4

sensitivity

Answer 4

there are as many as 1000 different receptor molecules, supported by the finding of 1000 different genes for olfactory receptor molecules. therefore must have coding across receptors to discriminate 5000+ odours

Question 5

regeneration

Answer 5

olfactory cells are constantly being replaced due to the adaptation oto chemical attack of cells, viruses, etc

Question 6

what are the two pressing issues?

Answer 6

how do new neurons arise from basal cells?
this could reveal basic principles that might be useful in therapy for the rest of hte nervous system
how do the axons of hte new olfactory cells find their targets in the olfactory bulb?
its still unknown about how neurons form conenctions which could have implications for hte things like spinal cord injury

Question 7

a second oldfactory system

Answer 7

most mammals have a vomeronasal organ which seems to be specialized for biologically important olfactory signals