The microbiome and its signature smells are crucial for most organisms, whether human, insect or plant. The silent signals sent by the microbiome are essential communications that influence behaviour.
New research offers insights into the brain after COVID-19 that may have implications for our understanding of long COVID-19 and how the disease affects our senses of taste and smell.
Understanding how the brain translates smells into behavior change can help advance search and rescue technology and treatments for neurological conditions.
The joint award recognizes the long road to deciphering the biology behind the brain’s ability to sense its surroundings – work that paves the way for a number of medical and biological breakthroughs.
Reduced brain volume in people who have experienced COVID-19 resembles brain changes typically seen in older adults. The implications of these findings are not yet clear.
Who’s a good doggie? Sniffer dogs might one day be able to screen people for COVID-19 in large crowds. But not when they’re hungry or need a good lie down.
Brains recognize a smell based on which cells fire, in what order – the same way you recognize a song based on its pattern of notes. How much can you change the ‘tune’ and still know the smell?
Rakaia Kenney, University of Maryland, Baltimore County; Kayla Lemons, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and Weihong Lin, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Mmmmmmm. That smells delicious. Wait, how do you know that?
Perhaps you’ve noticed something unusual in the bathroom after you consume this healthy spring vegetable. A Speed Read explains there’s two parts to the stinky puzzle: production and perception.
Elephants have the highest count of olfactory receptor genes of any species tested to date. This suggests that they may be the best smellers in the animal kingdom.
Our senses of taste and smell are linked to one another in ways that experts are continuing to explore. See if you can answer some questions for which experts have discovered some surprising answers.
Matthew Savoca, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
A new study shows that anchovies – key food for larger fish – are attracted to plastic trash because it smells like food. This suggests that toxic substances in plastic could move up through food chains.