Olfaction and gustation Flashcards
How do humans detect and respond to environmental and internal chemicals?
Chemoreception (olfaction, taste, chemosensory irritants and carotid bodies)
Where is the site of olfaction?
The nasal cavity
Where is the olfactory mucosa?
Present in the upper posterior regions where the axons push through holes in the cribriform plate
Are olfactory axons myelinated or unmyelinated?
Unmyelinated
Where do olfactory axons project to?
Olfactory bulb
How do the olfactory axons terminate?
Apical thin dendrites which form specialised cilia that carry odorant receptors
What three cell types make up the olfactory mucosa?
Olfactory receptor/sensory neurons (OR/SN)
Basal cells: stem cells
Supporting cells
How often are olfactory sensory neurons replaced?
Continually regenerated, from basal cells, every 4-8 weeks, very unusual as part of the CNS.
Why are olfactory sensory neurons unusual?
Some of the only neurons which are continually regenerated
What receptor is the olfactory receptor?
GPCR
What does the OR bind?
Small molecules (over 400,000 substances)
What is the receptive range/detection threshold of ORs?
Can vary (broad or narrow) (0.01nM - 2mM)
To be detected, what must the odorant be?
Dissolved in mucous
What happens when odorant binds OR?
Binding of odorant activates (Gs) → activation of adenylate cyclase III (specific) → upregulation of cAMP → opening of cyclic nucleotide gated channels (CNG) → Ca2+ influx and depolarisaon → opening of calcium-activated Cl- channels (ANO2) → chloride exits the cell leading to further depolarisation→ ACTION POTENTIAL → NT release.
How is odorant signal switched off?
NCKX4 - pump out calcium
Calcium adaptation reduces scent sensitivity, calcium dependent activation of PDE (lower cAMP) (fast adaptation)
CalCaM formation acts to inhibit Ca2+ input (slow adaptation)
What are the layers of the olfactory bulb (out to in)?
Olfactory neuron layer (ONL)
Glomerular layer (GL)
External plexiform layer (EPL)
Mitral cell layer (MCL)
Granule cell layer (GCL)
How is the olfactory neuron layer positioned in the olfactory bulb compared to the glomerular layer?
Interspersed
What effect does an increase in odorant concentration have on the upstream effects?
Increase in activity per glomerulus and increase in the number of active glomeruli
What are the projection neurons of the olfactory bulb?
Mitral cells
What do the ORNs contact?
Mitral cells
Where do mitral cells project?
Mitral cells project to the olfactory cortex
Secondary olfactory cortex
Contralateral olfactory bulb
Does olfaction pass through the thalamus before cortex?
NO
What is the only sensory modality not to pass through the thalamus?
Olfaction
What is the role of the periglomerular and granule cells?
Provide lateral inhibition
Where is the olfactory cortex?
Temporal lobe (in front of A1 just beneath the lateral sulcus)
What part of the parahippocampal gyrus does the olfactory cortex lie on?
Uncus
What is the role of O1?
Emotional, motivational, autonomic and endocrine response
What is the role of O2?
Conscious discrimination of different smells
Where do all central projections feedback?
Olfactory bulb
What is the olfactory tubercle?
A region of the olfactory cortex