Olfaction.
Olfaction.
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DOI：
10.1513/pats.201005-035rn
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发表时间：
2011-03-01
期刊：
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
Pinto, Jayant M
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Pinto, Jayant M
嗅觉是一种古老的、进化上至关重要的生理系统。在人类中，化学感觉调节着安全、营养、愉悦感和总体幸福感。影响人类嗅觉的因素包括鼻腔的结构方面，它可以调节气流，从而使气味进入嗅觉间隙，以及炎症性疾病，它可以影响气流和嗅觉神经功能。信号产生后，嗅觉信息在嗅球中被处理和编码，并传播到大脑的几个区域。阿克塞尔和巴克发现的嗅觉受体激发了人们对嗅觉分子基础的更深入了解。然而，这个系统所使用的精确机制仍然受到严格的审查，因为理解大量化学上不同的气味分子是如何被编码成大脑可以理解的信号的复杂性。此外，由于大脑中接收和调节嗅觉信息的多个区域，解剖嗅觉感觉一直具有挑战性。因此，我们对人类嗅觉功能障碍的认识仍然很原始。衰老是嗅觉丧失的主要原因，尽管许多临床和环境因素被认为会影响化学感觉功能。治疗方案侧重于减少鼻窦炎，排除其他可治疗的原因，并就安全措施向患者提供咨询。
Olfaction represents an ancient, evolutionarily critical physiologic system. In humans, chemosensation mediates safety, nutrition, sensation of pleasure, and general well-being. Factors that affect human olfaction included structural aspects of the nasal cavity that can modulate airflow and therefore odorant access to the olfactory cleft, and inflammatory disease, which can affect both airflow as well as olfactory nerve function. After signals are generated, olfactory information is processed and coded in the olfactory bulb and disseminated to several areas in the brain. The discovery of olfactory receptors by Axel and Buck sparked greater understanding of the molecular basis of olfaction. However, the precise mechanisms used by this system are still under great scrutiny due to the complexity of understanding how an enormous number of chemically diverse odorant molecules are coded into signals understood by the brain. Additionally, it has been challenging to dissect olfactory sensation due to the multiple areas of areas of the brain that receive and modulate this information. Consequently, our knowledge of olfactory dysfunction in humans remains primitive. Aging represents the major cause of loss of smell, although a number of clinical and environmental factors are thought to affect chemosensory function. Treatment options focus on reducing sinonasal inflammation when present, ruling out other treatable causes, and counseling patients on safety measures.