PSYC 2410 Final: Lecture 20 & 21

• School: University of Guelph
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 2410
• Professor: Boyer Winters

Document Summary

Humans can perceive about 10,000 different odours. Olfactory receptors: in the nasal mucosa (mucous-covered tissue in upper part of nose_ We do not have 10,000 different receptors. It is about the ratio for the coding of specific odours populations of cells fire and fire optimally in responses to different scents. Receptors: on the cilia of ciliated cells; not functionally distributed. 1 cell 1 receptor type, responds optimally to specific chemical odours. Odours: patterns of neuronal activity across different receptor types. Axons of olfactory nerves form the nerves head trauma can cause effect on axons, getting bumped will shift them to one side or the other. There is no organization at lower levels of olfactory system (near epithelium) Main olfactory projection (conscious) projection from pyriform cortex to limbic is important for motivation. This explains why some odours bring back salient memories and emotional cues.