1 Introduction In a modern western culture dominated by visual and auditory perception, olfaction is commonly regarded as a minor sensory modality. Yet, scents are extremely evocative; they can also shift attention, add novelty, enhance mental state and add presence. And, as an ambient or peripheral medium [1], olfaction does not require manipulation or eye contact. This chapter explores the se...

BACKGROUND A laryngectomy affects many of a patient's functions. Besides speech and respiratory-tract problems, olfaction and gustation problems can also have an influence on the quality of life. The aim of this study was to find out how often various nasal problems and decreased gustation appear after a laryngectomy. PATIENTS AND METHODS One hundred and five laryngectomized patients (9 women...

The basic psychophysical principle of speed-accuracy tradeoff (SAT) has been used to understand key aspects of neuronal information processing in vision and audition, but the principle of SAT is still debated in olfaction. In this study we present the direct observation of SAT in olfaction. We developed a behavioral paradigm for mice in which both the duration of odorant sampling and the diffic...

Sense of smell, often called olfaction, is a significant way for vertebrate animals that have ‘the nose’ to recognize the chemical signals from their environment. Generally, olfaction of the nose is the most important sense for the majority of vertebrate animals to maintain their survival with the exception of several mammals, including humans. Human’s ability to smell is significantly weaker t...

Current emphasis on odorant physiochemical features as the basis for perception largely ignores the synthetic and experience-dependent nature of olfaction. Olfaction is synthetic, as mammals have only limited ability to identify elements within even simple odor mixtures. Furthermore, olfaction is experience-bound, as exposure alone can significantly affect the extent to which stimuli can be dis...