Latest Olfaction Stories

NEW YORK, July 30 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Human pheromones are over-stated, or are they? There has been an on-going debate in the scientific community as to whether or not human pheromones exist, and, if they do, exactly what effect they have on us. For most of us in the lay community, pheromones are thought of as sexual attractants and nothing more. So the Sense of Smell Institute, the research and education division of The Fragrance Foundation, turned to the experts in the field and...

"Although e-noses already have many uses "“ such as detecting spoilage in the food industry and monitoring air quality "“ they are not as discriminating as biological noses," according to CSIRO scientist, Dr Stephen Trowell."Our efforts to improve e-noses recently received a boost following our development of a new system which enables us to compare technical sensors with biological sensors."We looked at how the most common type of e-nose sensors "“ metal oxide or "˜MOx' receptors...

Feeling stressed? Then try savoring the scent of lemon, mango, lavender, or other fragrant plants. Scientists in Japan are reporting the first scientific evidence that inhaling certain fragrances alter gene activity and blood chemistry in ways that can reduce stress levels. Their study appears in ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, a bi-weekly publication.In the new study, Akio Nakamura and colleagues note that people have inhaled the scent of certain plants since ancient times...

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is urging people to stop using three Zicam-brand products marketed as cold remedies because of a health hazard. The federal agency said Zicam-brand nasal gel, nasal swabs and nasal swabs Kids Size, are associated with anosmia, the loss of sense of smell, which can be long-lasting or permanent. Officials said they have received more than 130 reports of anosmia associated with the use of the three Zicam products. Loss of sense of smell is a serious risk...

French scientists say they've determined calcium is involved in long-term memory formation in honeybees. Researchers from France's National Center for Scientific Research, the French Calcium Research Network and the University of Toulouse found calcium acts as a switch between the bees' short- and long-term storage of learned information. By modulating the intracellular calcium concentration in the insects' brains, we've been able to demonstrate that, during olfactory conditioning, (calcium)...

A new study published online on May 7th in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, has found the source of silkworms' attraction to mulberry leaves, their primary food source. A jasmine-scented chemical emitted in small quantities by the leaves triggers a single, highly tuned olfactory receptor in the silkworms' antennae, they show.The results are contrary to the notion that insects are generally attracted to their host plants through the recognition of a blend of volatile compounds by a...

U.S. scientists say they are the first to find a form of synaptic memory in the olfactory bulb -- the part of the brain that processes the sense of smell. Case Western Reserve University Associate Professor Ben Strowbridge and doctoral student Yuan Gao noted that during the 1970s, scientists discovered synapses could change their strength following brief periods of activity. That process, called long-term potentiation, is the leading candidate to explain how we store information about...

Study in Nature Neuroscience uncovers possible basis of memories for different smellsBen W. Strowbridge, Ph.D, associate professor of Neuroscience and Physiology/Biophysics, and Yuan Gao, a Ph.D. student in the neurosciences program at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, are the first to discover a form of synaptic memory in the olfactory bulb, the part of the brain that processes the sense of smell.Their study, entitled "Long-term plasticity of excitatory inputs to...

The sense of smell is a complex process of the central nervous system that involves specific areas of the brain. In fact, olfactory dysfunction is seen in various central nervous system disorders that involve immune-mediated mechanisms, such as Parkinson's disease, schizophrenia, Alzheimer's disease and multiple sclerosis. Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease that sometimes involves the central nervous system in a condition known as neuropsychiatric SLE (NPSLE)....

The director of a suburban Chicago public library says her facility will not admit visitors whose personal body odor interferes with others' activities. Schaumburg Township District Library Director Stephanie Sarnoff said the decision to add offensive body odors to the library's list of prohibitions was based on complaints from library guests regarding a homeless person, the Chicago Tribune said Monday. People who use libraries are usually very understanding about the foibles of others, she...