Translating Behavioral Neuroscience to Daily Life Term Paper

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Neuroscience of Smell

Human beings are bombarded in their daily lives with a variety of sensory data coming from a number of sensory systems in the human body. Many times the input of sensory data can cause a sensorimotor response, or an automatic action on the part of the human body in response to sensory input. In other words, the sight, smell, or sound of something can cause the body to automatically begin an action. For instance, the sight of the police can, in some people, cause an increase in heart rate or perspiration. This in turn can cause a person to undergo a psychological process such as stress, or fear. Certain smells can also elicit a physical response on the part of a person. Aromachology is the study of how certain smells can cause sensor motor responses which in turn stimulate emotional responses on the part of an individual. Researchers have studied the effects of specific odors in the hope that they can be used to increase the health of individuals. Recently I personally experienced a state of emotional happiness as a result of what I believe was the influence of the aroma of baked bread.

After a long and grueling day at work, and an equally long commute home I was in a very bad mood when I entered the grocery store.
I didn't want to have to stop, especially after such a long day but I needed to do some shopping and didn't have much of a choice. It was my olfactory system that was most effected by my entering the store when the first thing I noticed was the smell of bread coming from the bakery department. The cilia located in my olfactory mucosa immediately came into contact with the odorant molecules from the baked bread. This contact activated adenylyl cyclase which led to the formation of cAMP (cyclic adenosine monophosphate) as well as the activation of calcium and sodium channels and the creation of a generator potential within the receptor cells. The generator potential then spread to axons which transmitted the potential to the synaptic endings in the olfactory bulb. The action potential, or signal strength of the sensory input, is directly related to the amount of odorant molecules; and since the smell of freshly baked bread permeated the store, there must have been a great amount of odorant molecules.

From the olfactory sensors in my nose the information was then transmitted to my brain through millions of axon fibers which converged on the glomeration located on the olfactory bulbs. This input was then transmitted to my mitral cells whose axons enter….....

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