PERCEPTION OF VOLATILE CHEMICALS BY OLFACTORY AND TRIGEMINAL SYSTEMS

除了嗅觉，许多气味刺激三叉神经，它提供了化学感觉的面部成分， 对源自化学物质的感觉的感知，通常采取刺激的形式。使用人类志愿者，其中一些人没有嗅觉（嗅觉丧失），我们已经并希望继续鼻内化学感觉及其与嗅觉的相互作用。该项目提出了三大目标。具体目标1将研究嗅觉缺失者相对于嗅觉正常者是否对一系列化学刺激敏感，嗅觉正常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。具体目标2将通过在正常嗅觉和嗅觉缺失中检测各种化学药物来研究鼻内化学疗法的质量编码。如果质量编码存在于化学感觉中，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。具体目标3将通过确定鼻内化学感受的暴露和适应对嗅觉敏感性的影响来探索化学感受和嗅觉之间的相互作用，反之亦然。目前对鼻内化学感受与嗅觉的相互作用还存在一些混淆。在这一特定目标的工作将收集更多的数据，这应该提供一个更好的理解嗅觉和化学的相互作用。为了达到这些目的，我们将依赖于人们对刺激的适应能力，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，嗅觉本身并不提供这样的信息）。在其他工作中，我们故意依赖刺激的性质来提供线索，个人可以使用这些线索来区分不同的选择。研究结果应有助于全面了解个人如何与他们不断扩大的化学感受环境相互作用。

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.