INDIVIDUAL VARIATION IN OLFACTION

嗅觉在个体对环境的反应中起着关键作用。 环境 气味会影响空气质量的评估， 作为警告剂。 气味也发挥作用，如食欲或方法 刺激。 它们在味道的感知中具有相当重要的作用 并指导食物的选择，它们影响人们对健康和情绪的看法 它们可以引导人们接近或避开人、地点或事物。 在每一种情况下，个人的个人能力， 感知气味的环境将决定所做出的反应。 大量证据支持这样的说法，即持续暴露于 气味剂在短期内产生的敏感性降低， 气味或适应。 嗅觉的实验室研究 在气味剂暴露之后，通常显示出敏感性的降低， 气味剂的感知强度;然而，可能发生相反的情况; 接触会使人敏感。 此外，还有相当多的 人们对气味感知的差异。 基因，环境， 感官和认知因素都相互作用，产生和修改这一点， 变化量 研究已经设计和执行，以探索嗅觉 在人类和其他动物（作为模型系统）中， 的分析。 这项拟议中的研究有其心理物理学基础， 电生理学、神经解剖学和遗传学策略， 试图揭示嗅觉的潜在机制。 该方法是基于 前提是对极端自然变异的研究 对嗅觉的正常过程的理解。 无法闻到不同的气味（特定的嗅觉障碍）提供了 为我们的研究奠定了基础。 具体的嗅觉丧失的原因是 未知，但可能有遗传成分，这表明，通过类比， 对于色盲来说，特定的嗅觉缺失是由基因缺陷引起的， 编码嗅觉受体蛋白。 然而，与颜色相比， 失明，这是稳定的整个生命，具体的失智症可以是 通过暴露于气味剂而逆转。 利用心理物理学和神经解剖学，拟议的研究将 确定（i）对气味的诱导敏感性是否不同于正常敏感性 嗅觉，（ii）是否相同的气味质量出现一次敏感性 （三）是否存在与其相关的化合物; 可以阻断气味感知的无气味化合物，（iv）在一种 特定嗅觉丧失模型，确定大脑中的一些区域 （v）使嗅觉丧失的逆转受影响，以及（v）使 一群嗅觉神经元，它们为激活的 大脑的区域。

Olfaction plays a key role in an individual's response to the environment. Odors can influence the assessment of air quality and serve as warning agents. Odors also play a role as appetitive or approach stimuli. They have considerable importance in the perception of flavor and guiding food choice, they influence perceptions of health and mood and they can elicit approach or avoidance of people, places or things. In each of these situations an individual's personal capabilities to perceive the odor environment will determine the response that is made. Considerable evidence supports the claim that continued exposure to odorants in the short-term produces a reduction in sensitivity to that odorant, or adaptation. Laboratory studies of olfactory perception following odorant exposure typically show a reduction in sensitivity or perceived intensity to the odorant; however, just the reverse can occur; exposure can sensitize individuals. Furthermore, there is considerable variation in the perception of odors by people. Genes, environmental, sensory and cognitive factors all interact to produce and modify this variation. Research has been designed and executed to explore olfaction in humans and other animals (as model systems) at each of these levels of analysis. The proposed research has its foundation in psychophysical, electrophysiological, neuroanatomical and genetic strategies in an attempt to reveal mechanisms underlying olfaction. The approach is based on the premise that studies of the extremes of natural variation can lead to an understanding of the normal processess underlying olfaction. Inability to smell different odors (specific anosmias) provides the specific foundation for our studies. The causes of specific anosmia are not known, but may have a genetic component, suggesting that, by analogy to color blindness, specific anosmia results from defects in the genes encoding the olfactory receptor proteins. However, in contrast to color blindness, which is stable throughout life, specific anosmias can be reversed by exposure to the odorant. Using psychophysics and neuroanatomy, the proposed research will determine (i) whether induced sensitivity to odors differs from normal olfaction, (ii) whether the same odor quality emerges once sensitivity to it and related compounds has been induced, (iii) whether there are any non-odorous compounds that can block the perception of odors, (iv) in a model of specific anosmia, determine some of the regions in the brain that are affected by reversal of the anosmia, and (v) to localize the population of olfactory neurons that provide the input into the activated regions of brain.