In the nose, there are three types of cells in the olfactory epithelium. 

- Olfactory receptor neurons
- Basal cells 
- Supporting cells 

Receptors in the nose 

Olfactory transmission to the brain involves many parts that are necessary to understanding how smell is perceived. 

- odorants
- olfactory bulb
- glomerulus
- mitral cells
- prepyriform cortex 
- orbitofrontal cortex
- amygdala 

It should be noted that olfaction is the only sensory process that does not pass through the thalamus before synapsing in the cortex. 



Olfactory transmission to brain regions

This is a condition in which a person lacks the ability to smell. It is also sometimes referred to as odor blindness. 

Anosmia

This is a highly specialized system that detects pheromones and sends the information to the brain. This system is found in most terrestrial mammals. 

Vomeronasal system

Olfactory training is a non-pharmacological and non-surgical treatment for patients with olfactory dysfunction. UPSIT (University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test) is the most common olfactory training in North America. UPSIT is based on microencapsulated odorants released from the surface of strips. Each subject tags 40 odorants on a multiple-choice list.

Olfactory training

Chemicals in the air trigger odor sensation

- receptors in the nose
- transmission to brain regions
- anosmia

Grinnell College

Ohio State University, Columbus

California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo

- Sensory Processing, Touch, Pain
- Hearing, Vestibular Perception
- Taste
- Smell
- Vision
- Motor Control and Plasticity

Neuroscience of Perception and Action

Breedlove, S. & Watson, N. (2017). Behavioral neuroscience, eighth edition. Oxford University Press.

Behavioral Neuroscience 8th Edition

Sensory receptors such as eyes or taste buds develop differently in different species. Sensory processing refers to the ways the brain integrates information received from sensory receptors in order to process appropriate behavioral or cognitive response. 

- Sensory organs
- Stimuli
- Receptor Cells
- Touch and the skin
- Pain
- Sensory processing disorder
- Synesthesia

Sensory processing, touch and pain

Taste is a chemical sense

- The five basic tastes
- How taste functions

Taste

Smell

- Behavioral view of reflexes
- Control systems for accuracy vs speed
- Spinal cord's role in controling body movement
- Motor cortexes
- Extrapyramidal systems role in motor commands
- Brain disorders and motor impairments

Motor Control 

People's experience is shaped by the sensory experience, which relies on other senses to process information. This is crossmodality. The interactions between senses change how the other senses are processed. For example, the interactions of sight and somatosensation is proprioception. This is only true in sighted individuals, and blind individuals have different ways of proprioception. Plasticity of the brain allows crossmodality to be effective. 
Crossmodality can both enhance and hinder sensory expereinces and how people perceive the world.

Crossmodality of the senses

- How hearing functions in the ear
- Auditory signals
- Hearing loss
- Vestibular perception
- Vestibular system

Hearing and Vestibular perception

People tend to use a high amount of visual information to inform their daily activities. There is also a lot of sensory information coming in through the eyes, which makes the visual system a highly researched field of neuroscience. 

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