人类嗅觉追踪的机制。

Mechanisms of scent-tracking in humans.

作者信息

Porter Jess, Craven Brent, Khan Rehan M, Chang Shao-Ju, Kang Irene, Judkewitz Benjamin, Volpe Jason, Settles Gary, Sobel Noam

机构信息

299 Life Science Addition, MC 3200, Program in Biophysics, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.

出版信息

Nat Neurosci. 2007 Jan;10(1):27-9. doi: 10.1038/nn1819. Epub 2006 Dec 17.

DOI:10.1038/nn1819

PMID:17173046

Abstract

Whether mammalian scent-tracking is aided by inter-nostril comparisons is unknown. We assessed this in humans and found that (i) humans can scent-track, (ii) they improve with practice, (iii) the human nostrils sample spatially distinct regions separated by approximately 3.5 cm and, critically, (iv) scent-tracking is aided by inter-nostril comparisons. These findings reveal fundamental mechanisms of scent-tracking and suggest that the poor reputation of human olfaction may reflect, in part, behavioral demands rather than ultimate abilities.

摘要

哺乳动物的嗅觉追踪是否借助鼻孔间的比较尚不清楚。我们在人类身上对此进行了评估，发现：（i）人类能够追踪气味；（ii）他们通过练习会有所进步；（iii）人类的鼻孔对空间上相隔约3.5厘米的不同区域进行采样，关键的是，（iv）鼻孔间的比较有助于气味追踪。这些发现揭示了气味追踪的基本机制，并表明人类嗅觉不佳的名声可能部分反映了行为需求而非最终能力。