15 Olfaction and Gustation

Flashcards covering key vocabulary and concepts from the olfaction and gustation lectures.

Olfaction

The detection of odorants or chemicals in air and conversion into signals the brain can interpret.

Gustation

The sense of taste, involving chemoreceptors on specialized cells called taste buds.

Olfactory Epithelium

A specialized tissue in the nasal cavity that contains olfactory neurons, supporting cells, and basal cells.

Olfactory Neurons

The primary sensory neurons responsible for the sense of smell, with approximately 10 million in humans.

Taste Buds

Sensory organs located on the tongue that are responsible for the sensation of taste.

Papillae

Projections on the tongue that contain taste buds, categorized into types including vallate, fungiform, foliate, and filiform.

Gustatory Cells

Epithelial cells in taste buds responsible for transducing taste stimuli into neural signals.

Cribriform Plate

A bony structure in the skull through which the axons of olfactory neurons pass to reach the olfactory bulb.

Neural Pathway for Olfaction

The route taken by olfactory sensory neurons, passing through the cribriform plate to synapse in the olfactory bulb and then to the brain.

Chemoreceptors

Cells that detect chemical stimuli, such as those involved in olfaction and gustation.

Olfactory Receptors

Specialized receptors located on olfactory cilia that bind to odorants.

Basal Cells

Stem cells in the olfactory epithelium that develop into new olfactory neurons.

Olfactory Tract

Bundle of axons that carry the olfactory signals from the olfactory bulb to the brain.

Taste Sensations

The different tastes detected by the gustatory system, including sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami.