ANP 1106 Lecture Notes - Lecture 16: Olfactory Receptor, Olfactory Receptor Neuron, Primary Olfactory Cortex

• School: University of Ottawa
• Department: Anatomy and Physiology
• Course: ANP 1106
• Professor: Joanne Savory

Document Summary

These are primitive senses that alert us whether the stuff nearby should be savoured or avoid- ed. The receptors for small (olfaction) and taste (gustation) are chemoreceptors, responding to chemicals in an aqueous solution. Smell: to substances dissolved in fluids of the nasal membrane: physiology of smell. The origin of smell is a patch of pseudostratified epithelium called the olfactory epithelium, locat- ed in the roof of the nasal cavity containing olfactory receptor cells (olfactory neurons). These neurons are unique and replaced by new neurons (from existing olfactory stem cells) after 4-8 weeks. These bipolar neurons have an apical dendrite that terminates in a knob from which sev- eral long cilia radiate. These olfactory cilia increase the receptive surface area and are covered by a coat of thin mucus. The mucus captures and dissolves airborne odorants, with just a few molecules sufficient to activate an olfactory receptor cell. Olfactory receptors are very sensitive and respond to several different odour-causing chemicals.