AP PSYCHOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Your olfactory mucosa plays a significant role in your ability to smell. This membrane is in the upper part of your nasal cavity and contains different types of cells: Olfactory receptor cells, which support two processes: dendritic process and central process.

Detailed explanation-2: -Your ability to smell comes from specialized sensory cells, called olfactory sensory neurons, which are found in a small patch of tissue high inside the nose. These cells connect directly to the brain. Each olfactory neuron has one odor receptor.

Detailed explanation-3: -The cilia contain receptors for odor molecules that pass into the nasal cavity and are captured in the fluid covering the olfactory epithelium.

Detailed explanation-4: -Smells are handled by the olfactory bulb, the structure in the front of the brain that sends information to the other areas of the body’s central command for further processing. Odors take a direct route to the limbic system, including the amygdala and the hippocampus, the regions related to emotion and memory.

Detailed explanation-5: -The perception of odors begins in sensory neurons residing in the olfactory epithelium that express G protein-coupled receptors, the so-called olfactory receptors. The binding of odor molecules to olfactory receptors initiates a signal transduction cascade that converts olfactory stimuli into electrical signals.