Understanding the Human Sensory Conduction of Smell

Sense of smell, often called olfaction, is a significant way for vertebrate animals that have ‘the nose’ to recognize the chemical signals from their environment. Generally, olfaction of the nose is the most important sense for the majority of vertebrate animals to maintain their survival with the exception of several mammals, including humans. Human’s ability to smell is significantly weaker than that of most of other animals, and people with anosmia have much less of a life handicap than those who are blind or deaf. Probably for this reason, few clinical efforts to treat the olfactory disorders have been made until scientists published their notable research about olfaction, one of which won the 2004 Nobel Prize [1]. Here, basic knowledge about human olfaction will be introduced briefly, followed by information about some landmark studies and current debates in the field. GROSS AND CELLULAR ANATOMY OF THE HUMAN NOSE AS AN ORGAN FOR SMELLING