Aquaporin-4 (AQP4) is a water-selective transport protein expressed in glial cells throughout the central nervous system. AQP4 deletion in mice produces alterations in several neuroexcitation phenomena, including hearing, vision, epilepsy, and cortical spreading depression. Here, we report defective olfaction and electroolfactogram responses in AQP4-null mice. Immunofluorescence indicated stron...

Like many other nocturnal arthropods, the amblypygid Phrynus pseudoparvulus is capable of homing. The environment through which these predators navigate is a dense and heterogeneous tropical forest understory and the mechanism(s) underlying their putatively complex navigational abilities are presently unknown. This study explores the sensory inputs that might facilitate nocturnal navigation in ...

The implementation of neuromorphic methods has delivered promising results for vision and auditory sensors. These methods focus on mimicking the neuro-biological architecture to generate and process spike-based information with minimal power consumption. With increasing interest in developing low-power and robust chemical sensors, the application of neuromorphic engineering concepts for electro...

Impaired olfaction (a functional decrement in the sense of smell) is not uncommon. It is estimated that at least 2 million Americans suffer from an impaired sense of smell, although the actual number is probably higher. 1 The importance of this primary sense should in no way be minimized, since its absence can result in profound consequences. Both personal protection and quality of life can be ...

A paradox of vertebrate brain evolution is the unexplained variability in the size of the olfactory bulb (OB), in contrast to other brain regions, which scale predictably with brain size. Such variability appears to be the result of selection for olfactory function, yet there is no obvious concordance that would predict the causal relationship between OB size and behavior. This discordance may ...

Usher Syndrome (USH) is a rare disease with hearing loss, retinitis pigmentosa and, sometimes, vestibular dysfunction. A phenotype heterogeneity is reported. Recent evidence indicates that USH is likely to belong to an emerging class of sensory ciliopathies. Olfaction has recently been implicated in ciliopathies, but the scarce literature about olfaction in USH show conflicting results. We aim ...

The upper airway (nasal passages, paranasal sinuses, pharynx, and glottis) provides the sentinel portion of human respiratory tract, with combined senses olfaction (cranial nerve I) trigeminal sensation V) signaling quality inspired air. Trigeminal function also complements sense taste (in turn mediated by cranial nerves VII, IX X), participates in genesis aversions. ability stimulation aero-di...