Open AccessCentral Processing of the Chemical Senses: An Overview
Author(s) -
Johan N. Lundström,
Sanne Boesveldt,
J. Albrecht
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
acs chemical neuroscience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.158
H-Index - 69
ISSN - 1948-7193
DOI - 10.1021/cn1000843
Subject(s) - neuroimaging , neuroscience , functional magnetic resonance imaging , cognitive science , psychology , functional neuroimaging , human brain , lagging , medicine , pathology
Our knowledge regarding the neural processing of the three chemical senses has been lagging behind that of our other senses considerably. It is only during the last 25 years that significant advances have been made in our understanding of where in the human brain odors, tastants, and trigeminal stimuli are processed. Here we provide an overview of the current knowledge of how the human brain processes chemical stimuli based on findings in neuroimaging studies using positron emission tomography and functional magnetic resonance imaging. Additionally, we provide new insights from recent meta-analyses, based on all published neuroimaging studies of the chemical senses, of where the chemical senses converge in the brain.