PSYC 372 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Olfactory Receptor, Olfactory Bulb, Olfactory Tract
9 Mar 2018
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Continued from lecture 6: the chemical senses. Sensitivity to chemicals is crucial for survival: finding food, finding mates, avoiding danger. We detect chemicals via taste (gustation) and smell (olfaction: olfactory receptors. Smell involves detection and recognition of odorant molecules that contract receptors in the olfactory (nasal) mucosa of the nose: pathways from the nose. Axons of olfactory receptor cells project to the olfactory bulb in the frontal lobe. Chemoreceptors (mucosa) > olfactory nerve (pns) > olfactory bulb > olfactory tract (cns) > dorsomedial nucleus (thalamus) > primary olfactory (piriform) cortex > orbitofrontal cortex > limbic system areas (hypothalamus, hippocampus, amygdala: gustatory receptors. Taste involves stimulation of the taste buds, which are receptors on the tongue and elsewhere in the oral cavity: contained in papillae, 4 types of (traditional) taste, sweet, sour, salty, bitter, possible additional taste. Different flavors activate different combinations of taste receptors: pathways from the tongue. Taste receptor cells synapse with neurons whose axons form cranial nerves.
