Smell and disconnected sense

2007/12/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Anatomia/Fisiologia

Researchers from Tokyo have found that odors that separate mice from birth and those that have been learned later make different paths in the nervous system. In fact, they have a certain type of neurons for the transmission of each type of smell, from the nose to the brain.

All these neurons are found in the olfactory epithelium, but distributed in two zones, dorsal and ventral. Japanese researchers have found that in each zone there is a type of neuron: the neurons of the dorsal zone transmit the odors that separate from the birth, while those of the ventral zone transmit the smells learned. To discover it they have created mice without neurons of dorsal zone. These mice are able to smell the smell of predators, but they have lost the sense of fear to be felt at the same time.