Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

Neurobiology > The Chemical Senses - Olfactory and Taste > Flashcards

The Chemical Senses - Olfactory and Taste Flashcards

1
Q

What information does the olfactory system process?

A

identity, concentration, and odorants

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

What are odorants?

A

quality of airborne, volatile chemical stimuli

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

Odorants interact with what? Where?

A

olfactory receptor neurons (ORN) found in the olfactory epithelium

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

What do the olfactory receptors contain in their membranes?

A

specialized GPCRs odorant receptors

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

There are nearly _____ odorant receptor genes.

A

1,000

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

Each olfactory receptor neuron expresses how many odorant receptor genes?

A

only one or a few

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

Respiratory epithelium depends on what?

A

air temp and moisture-immune barrier

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

Function of mucus.

A

protect and control ionic milieu

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

What are the 4 characteristics of ORNs?

A

1) small diameter
2) unmyelinated
3) bipolar cells with a single dendritic process
4) several microvilli (olfactory cilia)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

basal cells are located where?

A

bottom of cell

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

where are sustentacular cells?

A

top of cell

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

What is the function of sustentacular cells and basal cells?

A

offer support and protection by secreting enzymes that break down chemicals

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

What is considered harmful exposure in relation to regeneration?

A

olfactory unsheathing cells

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

The human olfactory system is capable of making distinctions based on what?

A

small changes in molecular structure and based on concentration

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

The only classification of odors is what (2)?

A

1) either pleasant and attractive
2) unpleasant and repulsive

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

Receptor potentials are generated where?

A

in the cilia of receptor neurons

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

What evokes a large inward (depolarizing) current only when applied to the cilia?

A

odorants

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

Calcium mechanism channels are _______-dependent.

A

calmodulin

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

What does Kinase II restore and reduce?

A

restore G(olf) and reduce cAMP

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

What two things are involved with Kinase II?

A

1) phosphodiesterase
2) beta-arrestin

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

Function of beta-arrestin?

A

modify receptor sensitivity

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

Axons arising from receptor cells project through what directly to neurons in the what?

A

the cribiform plate directly to neurons in the olfactory bulb

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

In what type of arrangements do olfactory receptor axons terminate?

A

in specialized synaptic arrangements (glomeruli) on dendrites of mitral cells

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

What are mitral cells?

A

projection neurons within the olfactory bulb

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
Q

How do mitral cells of the olfactory bulb send their axons (anteriorly or posteriorly)?

A

posteriorly

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
26
Q

How do mitral cells of the olfactory bulb send their axons posteriorly?

A

via the olfactory tracts into lateral and medial olfactory tract or stria

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
27
Q

How do Olfactory neurons express a specific odorant receptor (and thus responsive to a specific odorant stimulus)?

A

project their axons precisely to a small number of glomeruli within the olfactory bulb (fidelity of odor detection)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
28
Q

Granule cells are _____ circuits and involve what?

A

1) inhibitory
2) synaptic plasticity

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
29
Q

What is the lateral olfactory stria?

A

the projection bundle of fibers that passes laterally along the floor of the lateral fissure and enters the olfactory projection area in the temporal lobe

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
30
Q

The lateral olfactory stria includes 3 what?

A

1) the pyriform
2) entorhinal cortex
3) parts of the amygdala

31
Q

Where does the small medial olfactory stria pass?

A

passes medially and up near the inferior part of the corpus callosum

32
Q

Where does the small medial olfactory stria carry the axons of some mitral cells to?

A

the anterior olfactory nucleus

33
Q

What does the anterior olfactory nucleus do?

A

sends the axons of some mitral cells back to the olfactory bulbs on both sides (presumably as part of a feedback circuit that modulates the sensitivity of olfactory sensation)

34
Q

Olfactory information from ______ ______ is relayed to the thalamus and proceeding to association areas in the neocortex

A

pyriform cortex

35
Q

Where does further processing occur (of conscious discrimination of odors?

A

areas in the neocortex

36
Q

The neural computations that occur in pyriform cortex regions influence what?

A

motor, visceral, and emotional reactions to chemosensory stimuli (particularly those relevant to feeding, reproduction, and aggression)

37
Q

Entorhinal cortex receives inputs from what areas (4)?

A

1) amygdala
2) olfactory bulb
3) the limbic lobe
4) other cortical areas

38
Q

Entorhinal cortex is the major source of what to what?

A

afferents to the hippocampus

39
Q

In humans, olfaction is often considered the _____ acute of the sense.

A

least

40
Q

What is anosmia?

A

the loss of the sense of smell (either total or partial)

41
Q

The majority of individuals presented with ____ common odors can identify all seven correctly while people wit anosmia have difficulty identifying these common scents.

A

7

42
Q

How can anosmia be aquired?

A

1) following chronic sinus infection or inflammation
2) traumatic head injury
3) exposure to toxins and aging

43
Q

What does transient anosmia occur with?

A

a severe cold

44
Q

Changes in the ability to identify 80 common odorants may reflect either ________ or _______ in otherwise typical (no additional neurological pathologies) aging individuals.

A

diminished peripheral sensitivity or altered activity of central olfactory structures

45
Q

What is Often part of a battery of diagnostic tests administered at the early stages of age-related dementia and other neurodegenerative diseases?

A

University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test (UPSIT)

46
Q

Olfaction is often compromised early in the course of what 2 diseases?

A

1) Parkinson’s
2) Alzheimer’s

47
Q

Olfactory hallucinations (perception of a stimulus that is not actually present in the environment) are among the earliest symptoms of what?

A

schizophrenia

48
Q

What are the causes of olfactory deficits in disorders?

A

not known

49
Q

What kind of receptors are taste cells?

A

peripheral receptors

50
Q

Where are taste cells found?

A

in taste buds distributed on the dorsal surface of the tongue, soft palate, pharynx, and upper part of the esophagus

51
Q

What cranial nerve is the facial nerve?

A

CNVII

52
Q

What cranial nerve is the lingual branch?

A

CN IX

53
Q

The lingual branch is part of what nerve (give name, not cranial number)?

A

glossopharyngeal nerve

54
Q

The superior laryngeal branch is part of the ____ nerve.

A

vagus

55
Q

What cranial nerve is the vagus nerve?

A

CN X

56
Q

What regions do the central axons of the primary sensory neurons project to?

A

the nucleus of the solitary tract in the medulla

57
Q

trigeminal endings involves sensory information of what?

A

1) texture
2) spiciness
3) temp

58
Q

Where is the ventral posterior medial nucleus located?

A

thalamus (which is located in the temporal lobe)

59
Q

Where are taste buds distributed along?

A

1) the lateral surfaces of the papillar protuberance
2) in the trench walls

60
Q

What do taste buds consist on?

A

1) specialized neuroepithelial receptor cells (called taste cells)
2) some supporting cells
3) basal cells

61
Q

What does taste perception regenerate from?

A

basal cells (pool of stem cells in the tongue)

62
Q

What part of the tongue is most receptive to sweet, umami, and salty compounds?

A

tip of tongue

63
Q

Chemosensory transduction is initiated in the ______ domain of the taste cells, and electrical signals are generated at the basal domain via graded receptor

A

apical

64
Q

What 3 things are part of sensory transduction in taste cells?

A

serotonin, ATP, and GABA

65
Q

Voltage-regulated ion channels in taste cells are controlled by second messengers that are members of what family?

A

transient receptor potential (TRP)

66
Q

Amiloride-sensitive Na+ channels respond to what taste?

A

salty tastes

67
Q

What second messengers are part of the TRP family?

A

PKD channel, H+-permeant, nonselective cation channel

68
Q

Taste cells transduce _________ _______ to encode information about the identity, concentration, and qualities (pleasant, unpleasant, or potentially harmful) of the substance.

A

chemical stimuli

69
Q

The caudal part of the nucleus of the solitary tract also receives innervation from subdiaphragmatic branches of the _____ nerve.

A

vagus

70
Q

subdiaphragmatic branches of the vagus nerve control what?

A

gastic motility

71
Q

What connections can be through of as the sensory limb of a gustatory-visceral reflex arc?

A

interneurons connecting the rostral and caudal regions of the nucleus

72
Q

The axons of the CNs terminate in the ______ tract

A

solitary

73
Q

Where is the secondary neocortical taste area?

A

in the caudolateral orbitofrontal cortex

Neurobiology (7 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2025 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions