Olfatto e gusto non sono chiaramente separabili l'uno dall'altro, infatti per molti aspetti si sovrappongono.
- entrambi sono sensi chimici , that respond to chemical natural or artificial
- both protect the gastrointestinal tract from non-digestible substances or harmful
rely on smell and taste receptors for the perception of stimuli esterni.Nel its most general, a receptor is a structure that is changed when excited by an environmental stimulus, leading to the production of a signal. All receptors are transducers , ie structures that transform signals from one form to another. A sensory receptor is a whole cell (often a neuron), which specializes in responding to an electrical signal to particular stimuli in the environment which is, in other words, it translates into the language of the sensory nervous system. The sensory receptors are grouped into sensory organs like the eye, ear or tongue, and their electrical activity gives rise to subjective perceptions of light, sound and taste that we describe as our "senses." Stimulation of a receptor creates a potential for sensory reception , an electrical signal whose amplitude is proportional to the intensity of the stimulus (in this potential differs from the receiving action potential). Potential Reception can give rise to action potentials in the same receptor neurons, as an alternative, such as cell receptors sensitive to the flavors, the potential of receiving cause the release of a neurotransmitter to a postsynaptic neuron which, in turn, produces action potentials that reach the brain.
olfactory sensitivity
on the vault of the nasal cavity, the 10 million neurons in the epithelium are spread over an area of \u200b\u200babout 5 cm2 and, through an extension phone equipped with a dozen lashes, go directly to the mucosal surface. It is therefore of real neurons that receive stimuli and can produce action potentials (primary sensory cells). The first phase of the process occurs on the surface of the olfactory olfactory edge, but how chemicals interact with the surface receptor remains a mystery
