Scientific Glance
The olfactory epithelium lies within the nasal cavity. The nerve endings are sensitive to molecules floating about in the air that get stuck on the mucous surface. The contact of such molecules with the cilia of the olfactory receptors is transduced into neural messages(see diagram below).
There is little understanding of how transduction occurs and how various molecules are transduced differently. Most believe that the physical structure (shape) of a molecule plays a deciding role. It appears that the relevant sensory code for olfactory quality is probably a pattern of excitation across different receptor groups.
Olfaction tells us how our food tastes. It is also used in identification (e.g., a mother can identify her infant by smell alone almost immediately after birth).
Olfaction is also used in signaling across distances (e.g. pheromones from female moths attract male moths).The most common ways that people lose their sense of smell are through the common cold (too much mucous), viral infection of olfactory epithelium, or a cracked cribriform plate caused by an accident.
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