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olfaction

·July 8, 2025·7 min read

One Neuron, Two Behaviors

New research shows a single neuron in fruit flies can trigger two distinct behaviors in response to the same smell. When detecting rotting fruit, one downstream pathway drives the flies toward the source, while another pathway controls their walking speed.

This shows a brain surrounded by stinky objects.

Featured Neuroscience

·June 17, 2025·5 min read

How the Brain Decides a Smell Is Stinky

A new study reveals how the brain determines whether a smell is pleasant or revolting, highlighting why scent evokes such strong emotional responses. Researchers focused on the amygdala, the brain’s emotional hub, and found two genetically distinct cell types that can make any odor feel good or bad, depending on where they project in the brain.

Featured Neuroscience

·June 12, 2025·4 min read

Smelling Food Triggers Fullness, But Only in Lean Brains

Researchers have identified a new brain pathway in mice that links the smell of food to feelings of fullness—offering insight into how scent influences appetite. When lean mice smelled food, a group of nerve cells in the medial septum activated rapidly, signaling satiety and reducing food intake.

Featured Genetics Neuroscience

·June 3, 2025·6 min read

Dormant Stem Cells May Hold Key to Restoring Sense of Smell

Researchers have created a 3D mouse organoid model to study how neurons in the nose regenerate, revealing that a type of stem cell once considered dormant may be crucial for repairing olfactory tissue. The team found that horizontal basal cells (HBCs), marked by KRT5, actively support new neuron generation alongside globose basal cells (GBCs).

Featured Neuroscience

·May 28, 2025·4 min read

Cats Can Recognize Their Owners by Smell Alone

A new study has found that domestic cats can distinguish between their owner’s scent and that of a stranger using their sense of smell alone. When presented with scent samples from familiar and unfamiliar humans, cats consistently spent more time sniffing the unfamiliar scent.

Featured Neuroscience

·May 20, 2025·5 min read

Silent Signals: How We Recognize Social Rank Instantly

Mice, like humans, navigate social hierarchies using subtle cues—but instead of reading facial expressions or clothing, they rely on chemical signals. A new study reveals that male mice can determine the social rank of unfamiliar opponents using airborne odors and physical scent cues.

Featured Neuroscience

·April 17, 2025·4 min read

Scent Signals Friendship: How Smell Shapes First Impressions

A new study reveals that women can subconsciously judge potential friendship compatibility based on scent during first-time meetings. Researchers found that a person’s everyday odor—captured on a worn T-shirt—predicted how much they were liked after short face-to-face conversations.

Featured Neurology Neuroscience

·March 31, 2025·4 min read

Smell Test at Home May Sniff Out Early Cognitive Decline

A new study highlights that olfactory testing could offer a simple, cost-effective way to detect early cognitive impairment from home. Researchers found that older adults with mild cognitive issues performed worse on odor identification and memory tasks than cognitively normal individuals.

Auditory Neuroscience Featured Neuroscience

·January 30, 2025·4 min read

How the Brain Adapts to New Sensory Contexts

New research reveals how the brain rapidly adapts to sensory changes using a feedback loop between the olfactory cortex and the olfactory bulb. Scientists trained mice to associate rewards with specific sounds and smells, then switched the rules to test their adaptability.

This shows a woman eating in a small cell.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·November 18, 2024·4 min read

Confined Spaces Change How We Smell and Experience Food

Researchers found that confined environments, like the International Space Station, alter the way people perceive food aromas, with emotions significantly coloring their responses. Using virtual reality to simulate space conditions, participants reported stronger smells for most aromas, except lemongrass, compared to a microgravity posture.

Featured Neuroscience

·October 14, 2024·4 min read

Humans Can Detect Quick Chemical Changes in Smells with Each Sniff

Human olfactory perception, traditionally viewed as slow, can actually detect rapid changes within a single sniff, as shown by new research. Using a precise sniff-triggered device, researchers presented different odors in close succession and found that participants could distinguish between them with only a 60-millisecond delay. This challenges the notion that our sense of smell is limited in speed, revealing a temporal sensitivity similar to visual perception.

Featured Neuroscience

·October 9, 2024·6 min read

How Brain Cells Identify Smells and Related Images

A recent study reveals that specific brain cells respond not only to smells but also to images and written words related to those scents, providing deeper insight into human odor perception. Researchers found that neurons in the olfactory cortex and other brain regions, like the hippocampus and amygdala, distinguish between different smells and associate them with visual cues. This research, using data from epilepsy patients, bridges a gap between animal and human studies on olfactory processing.