Chapter15

Odorants

Tiny particles in the air that have a smell and can stick to smell sensors in your nose.

Trigeminal nerve

A nerve that helps feel sensations in the face, contributing to the perception of burning, coolness, and tingling in conjunction with smell and taste.

Olfactory bulb

A structure in the brain that receives signals from smell sensors in the nose and processes the information about smells.

Piriform cortex

The area in the brain responsible for processing smells, with the front section helping to distinguish them and the back section helping to remember and understand them.

Olfactory illusion

A phenomenon where the brain is tricked into perceiving a smell that does not match reality, influenced by expectations.

Taste vs. flavor

Taste refers specifically to what the tongue senses, while flavor combines taste, smell, and texture for a complete experience.

The five basic tastes

Sweet, Sour, Salty, Bitter, and Umami; each taste helps indicate nutritional value or potential dangers.

Tasters, nontasters, and supertasters

Different classifications of individuals based on their sensitivity to taste, influenced by genetics and the number of taste buds.

Anosmia

The inability to smell, which can be caused by a blocked or damaged nose or damage to the brain's smell processing areas.

Phantosmia

The perception of a smell that is not present, distinct from illusions which misinterpret actual smells.