Nasal Periceptor Processes

Abstract

There are myriads of odorous molecules that we perceive and it is remarkable that most of us seem to have very similar odor impressions that originate from a specific stimulus and the sense of smell appears to be robust during much of a lifetime. When perceiving scents, olfactory receptor (ORolfactory receptor (OR)olfactorycortexolfactorymucosaperireceptor event) proteins are at work to translate chemical information into neuronal signals that are decoded in the olfactory cortex to provide us with an odor image. Proposed in the middle of the last century but only substantiated with intriguing laboratory data during the last decade, there are enzymes expressed at high levels in the olfactory mucosa, and they metabolize xenobiotics including odorants and produce many new chemical species. Examples demonstrate that such perireceptor events can alter the receptor-dependent activation pattern in the olfactory neuroepithelium, which has an impact on the quality and the intensity of odor stimuli. Results that do not seem to fit a model or a hypothesis may make sense if perireceptor events are brought into the equation.