AP11220

Science Summary

Professor Alan Carelton at University of Geneva led a team of researchers to study representation of odor. They used cerebral imaging on a mouse to monitor electrical activity emitted by the olfactory bulb of a mouse inhaling odors both naturally induced and photosimulated mitral cells to induce odors and track retentivity in the central part of the brain. to discover that retentivity of an odor is internal to the brain. Their experiment showed that in mitral cells some representation evolved during the first breath and some representation remained stable even after the odor had gone. They concluded that the olfactory system retains sensation at the central level. Although the textbook covers much about the olfactory system, it has yet to include this information. This opens up a new world to research of the olfactory system, and I would be surprised if the information did not appear in upcoming textbooks. This is new information supporting that this process enables processing odors in complex environments and the recognition of smells. This is supported by the information that one pathway of the olfactory system sends information to cells in the thalamus that relay it to the orbitofrontal cortex for cognitive interpretation (Mastering the World of Psychology, pg. 84). This experiment, though plausible, is only the beginning of this research. (Barrett's Law #9). Science requires common data (Barrett's Law #3) and so far this is the only time the experiment has been done. I expect to see much more research soon and much more criticism (Barrett's Law #4) and much more repetition of the experiment to evaluate any flaws.

References:

Université de Genève. "Sense of smell: The nose and the brain make quite a team... in disconnection." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 12 August 2013. .

Wood, Samuel E., Ellen R. Green. Wood, and Denise Roberts. Boyd. //Mastering the World of Psychology//. Fourth ed. Boston: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon, 2011. Print.

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