PERCEPTION OF VOLATILE CHEMICALS BY OLFACTORY AND TRIGEMINAL SYSTEMS

除了嗅觉之外，许多气味还能刺激三叉神经，三叉神经提供化学感觉的面部成分，即对化学物质产生的感觉的感知，通常以刺激的形式出现。使用人类志愿者，其中一些人没有嗅觉（嗅觉缺失），我们已经并希望继续进行鼻内化学合成及其与嗅觉的相互作用。该项目提出了三大目标。特异性目标1将研究嗅觉缺失者是否对一系列化学刺激敏感，而正常嗅觉缺失者的嗅觉功能完全正常。如果嗅觉丧失者对化学刺激物的敏感性降低，他们和他们的医生应该意识到这种潜在的危险情况。特异性目标2将通过在正常嗅觉和嗅觉嗅觉中测试各种化学试剂来研究鼻内化学反应的质量编码。如果化学感觉中存在质量编码，那么就需要信息来确定存在多少质量，这些质量的感知如何相互影响以及它们如何与嗅觉相互作用。特异性目标3将通过确定鼻内化学物质暴露和适应对嗅觉敏感性的影响来探索化学物质和嗅觉之间的相互作用，反之亦然。目前，人们对鼻内化学反应与嗅觉之间的相互作用存在一些困惑。这一具体目标的工作将收集有关这一问题的更多数据，这些数据将有助于更好地了解嗅觉和化学审美的相互作用。为了达到这些目的，我们将依靠人们适应刺激的能力，以及当刺激物单方面激活三叉神经时，确定鼻子的哪一侧受到刺激的能力（看起来不太可能，嗅觉本身并不能提供这样的信息）。在其他工作中，我们将依靠刺激的性质来提供线索，个人可以利用这些线索来区分不同的选择。结果应该有助于全面了解个体如何与其不断扩大的化学感觉环境相互作用。

Beyond smell, many odorants stimulate the trigeminal nerve, which provides the facial component of chemesthesis, the perception of sensations originating from chemicals, often takes taking the form of irritation. Using human volunteers, some of whom have no sense of smell (anosmia), we have been and wish to continue intranasal chemesthesis and its interactions with olfaction. The project proposes three broad goals. Specific Aim 1 will investigate whether anosmics are sensitive to a range of chemesthetic stimuli relative to normosmics, in whom the sense of smell is fully functional. Should anosmics have an associated diminution in sensitivity to chemical irritants, they and their physicians should be made aware of this potentially dangerous situation. Specific Aim 2 will investigate quality coding in intranasal chemesthesis by testing a variety of chemesthetic agents in normosmics and anosmics. If quality coding exists within chemesthesis, then information would be needed to determine how many qualities exist, how the perception of these qualities influence each other and how they interact with olfaction. Specific Aim 3 will explore interaction between chemesthesis and olfaction by determining the effects of exposure to and adaptation of intranasal chemesthesis on olfactory sensitivity and vice versa. At present there is some confusion about the interaction between intranasal chemesthesis and olfaction. Work in this specific aim will collect additional data on this issue which should provide for a greater understanding of olfactory and chemesthetic interactions. To these ends, we will rely upon the ability of people to adapt to stimuli and to determine which side of the nose is being stimulated when an irritant activates the trigeminal nerve unilaterally (unlikely as it may seem, olfaction per se does not provide such information). In other work we willy rely upon the qualities of the stimuli to provide cues that individuals can use to discriminate between alternative choices. Results should contribute to an overall understanding of how individuals interact with their ever-expanding chemosensory environment.