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Do different cells in our nose respond to different smells?

sciam.com — People can smell thousands—perhaps even millions—of different scents. Yet scientists know that in the nose, there are only about 400 different types of odor receptors—proteins that capture scented molecules so that smells can be identified.

Who dugg this? Made popular May 4, 2008

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  • MrSidnet, on 05/04/2008, -0/+8For the lazy:
    The answer is that cells mix and match. Each nerve cell in the nose can sense more than one odor, but picks up the smell to a different degree. An odor's unique signature depends on which cells respond to it, and how intensely.
  • RiantGorkette, on 05/04/2008, -0/+7The Magic School Bus said it better
  • TheDowntownKing, on 05/04/2008, -0/+6Could've made the title sooo much more interesting

    "Different Smells for Different Cells"
  • Altor92, on 10/06/2009, -4/+9Yes. I think we all learned this in elementary or middle school...
  • DifferentAngle, on 05/04/2008, -0/+4In other news, a 32 bit register can hold any one of over a BILLION different numbers. absolutely amazing
  • inactive, on 05/04/2008, -0/+4It's pretty interesting how similar this is to the way the brain interprets tastes, as well. The potential of the human brain will never cease to amaze me.
  • mrkmrk, on 05/04/2008, -0/+3I am lazy. Thank you.
  • da_bradler, on 05/05/2008, -0/+3People can see thousands —perhaps even millions—of different colours. Yet scientists know that in the eye, there are only about 3 different types of color receptors. *rolls eyes*

    interesting fact: did you know green was the first color our eyes were sensitive to? animals that don't have full colour vision normally actually have just green vision, in that there eyes are only sensitive to the green wavelength. Humans and other animals gradually developed blue then red colour receptors. There is in fact no real "red light" or "blue light' there is simply light that operates at different frequencies, the reason we perceive colour is because threw evolution our eyes developed 3 different light receptors that were only sensitive to specific wave lengths of light. our brains then measure the input from all 3 types of receptors and represent it as one distinct colour. The human eye has on average twice as many green receptors as blue or red, or as many green as red and blue combined.
  • Rizzen, on 05/05/2008, -0/+2I learned this from the magic school bus.
  • Accolade1, on 05/13/2008, -0/+1It all comes down to chiral receptors in your nose. One enantiomer of carvone smells like mint while the other smells sour, due to whether the molecule has R or S stereochemistry. If you plan on taking Organic Chemistry, you'll encounter this very quickly.
  • mentor, on 05/05/2008, -0/+1Hmmm, I'm sure I remember someone proposing the theory that the resonant vibrations of the molecules involved were detected also.
  • foltaggio, on 07/11/2008, -0/+12147483647 numbers both directions*
  • supermanred, on 05/04/2008, -1/+2No, hes right. We learned this in grade 8 in Canada. That's still elementary school.
  • mentor, on 05/05/2008, -0/+1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vibration_theory

    Yay for wikipedia.
  • MrSidnet, on 05/05/2008, -0/+1I think he meant to say that in the future, he'll still be going to elementary school.
  • Iwantawii, on 05/05/2008, -0/+1Machine > Man
  • novenator, on 05/05/2008, -0/+1The mechanics of the sense of smell are peculiar and to this day, not well understood
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olfaction
    The molecules for dill and mint are identical, except the lattice is reversed, and they smell totally different. Fascinating.
  • KingGorilla, on 05/05/2008, -0/+1who knew gym socks smelt great
  • tresorArt, on 05/05/2008, -0/+1holy ***** that's ridiculous! But maybe it seems more like magic to me because I'm horrible with physics/chem/mol bio
  • tresorArt, on 05/04/2008, -0/+1that and there are neurons that can combine information from different primary olfactory sensory neurons. Most odors are not so clear cut and are a combination of lots of different smells. Neurons that are upstream from primary afferents could combine the info to store more 'unique smells.' There is also the issue of cortical processing, which can combine information from a variety of senses, including taste, sight, etc. People are not simple organisms so the answer will not be simple. Seems like the real answer should just be because of EVERYTHING.
  • Iwantawii, on 05/05/2008, -0/+1replace "interesting fact:" with "FACT:" and you'll get a lot more diggs
  • Iwantawii, on 05/05/2008, -0/+1"In the year two thousaaaaaaaaaaaand" -Conan
  • gudnbluts, on 05/04/2008, -0/+0It's just as well, really, for people like me who can't smell (never been able to). I bet my brain has to do a whole lot of compensating to give me a reasonable sense of taste.
  • inactive, on 05/04/2008, -2/+2Probably, some things like this get filtered out with the other thousands of useless things taught in school.
  • Alijia, on 05/04/2008, -1/+0http://babyfunny.ytmnd.com/
  • nreynolds, on 05/04/2008, -4/+2I doubt it, unless you went to elementary school in the future.
  • GIACOMOSAN, on 05/04/2008, -3/+0Interesting, but not THAT interesting.

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