Link Between Places and Sense of Smell

Sense of smell — the sweet fragrance of jasmine to the musty scent of algae may transport us across time and space, thereby remaining the deeply embedded aspect of human cognition. New study finds how brain cells (neurons) in the olfactory cortex (brain region for the sense of smell) link smells to places as per a study published in the scientific journal Nature.

"Odour molecules do not inherently carry spatial information. However, animals in the wild use odours for spatial navigation and memory, which allow them to locate valuable resources such as food. We wanted to understand the neural basis of these behaviours, and so we decided to study how the brain combines olfactory and spatial information,” says Cindy Poo, the study’s first author.

It is known that the olfactory system is the only region that has direct connections with the hippocampus (brain region for memory and navigation).

The present study found that the hippocampal system (in mouse models) is involved in linking different smells to a special location through the olfactory cortex.

"This study also opens up a new window to understand how the senses are used for navigation and memory. Humans rely on visual landmarks more than odours, but it’s likely that the principles of how we remember where we’ve been and get to where we’re going are very similar," says the study’s senior author, Zachary Mainen, a principal investigator at the Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown in Portugal.

Source-Medindia