The trigeminal system: from receptor expression to the interaction with the sense of smell

三叉神经系统是仅次于嗅觉和味觉的第三种化学感觉系统。它允许感知不同的感觉，例如，辣椒的辛辣，薄荷的新鲜或芥末的辛辣。这个感觉系统独立于嗅觉和味觉。虽然它们在解剖学上是可分离的，但化学感觉在功能上是交织在一起的：首先，化学感觉刺激通常激活多个化学感觉系统（例如，薄荷醇激活三叉神经系统并唤起新鲜感觉，同时它还激活嗅觉系统并唤起薄荷味）。其次，受体位于附近并可能相互影响。最后，化学感官在大脑中共享处理单元。因此，化学感官，特别是嗅觉和三叉神经系统在感知气味和味道的过程中相互作用。虽然我们现在对嗅觉了解很多，但对三叉神经系统是如何工作的知之甚少，尤其是它与嗅觉的相互作用。更深入地了解这个化学感觉系统是很重要的，原因如下：(1)三叉神经系统是味觉和嗅觉感知的重要贡献者。为了理解这些过程，更好地理解这个基本上未知的化学感觉系统是至关重要的；(2)了解嗅觉和三叉神经系统之间的相互作用同样重要，了解在味道和气味感知过程中系统如何相互作用；(3)嗅觉因暴露和训练而发生变化。在自然嗅觉的大多数情况下，三叉神经系统与嗅觉系统一起被激活。三叉神经系统本身也会对反复的接触和训练做出反应。由于几乎所有的气味都能激活三叉神经系统，三叉神经系统在嗅觉系统可塑性中的作用必须得到更好的理解。因此，这个应用程序将支持我对三叉神经处理和感知的基本机制以及三叉神经系统与嗅觉系统的相互作用的研究。

The trigeminal system is a third chemosensory system next to smell and taste. It allows for the perception of diverse sensations, e.g., the spiciness of hot peppers, the freshness of peppermint or the pungency of wasabi. This sensory system is independent from smell and taste. Although they are anatomically separable, the chemical senses are functionally intertwined: first, chemosensory stimuli usually activate more than one chemosensory system (e.g., menthol activates the trigeminal system and evokes a fresh sensation while it also activates the olfactory system and evokes a minty smell). Next, receptors are located in close vicinity and potentially influence each other. Finally, the chemical senses share processing units in the brain. Therefore, the chemical senses, and specifically, the olfactory and the trigeminal system interact mutually during the perception of odors and flavors. Although we now know a lot about the sense of smell, much less is known about how the trigeminal system works, especially its interaction with the sense of smell. A deeper understanding of this chemosensory system is important for several reasons: (1) the trigeminal system is an important contributor to flavor and smell perception.. To understand these processes a better comprehension of this largely unknown chemosensory system is crucial; (2) it is equally important to comprehend the interaction between the olfactory and the trigeminal systems, to understand how the systems interact during flavor and smell perception; (3) the sense of smell undergoes changes in response to exposure and training. During most conditions of natural smelling, the trigeminal system is activated together with the olfactory system. The trigeminal system itself also responds to repeated exposure and training. Since virtually all odorants also activate the trigeminal system, the trigeminal system's role in plasticity in the olfactory system must be better understood. This application will therefore support my research on basic mechanisms of trigeminal processing and perception and the trigeminal system's interaction with the olfactory system.