April 23-26 2025
Bonita Springs, FL
Printable Program & Abstracts
|
Wednesday, April 22, 2026 |
| 12:00 - 3:30 PM | Snowy Egret |
| Executive Committee Meeting (Invite Only) | |
| 4:00 - 5:00 PM | Garden Courtyard |
| Meet and Greet | |
| 5:00 - 5:30 PM | Sawyer Key Ballroom |
| Welcome & Awards Ceremony | |
| 5:30 - 6:30 PM | Sawyer Key Ballroom |
| Keynote Lecture | |
5:30 |
Through The Microbial Looking Glass: How Microbiomes Act As Mediators Of Animal Biology University of Pittsburgh - Dept. of Biological Sciences |
| 6:30 - 8:30 PM | South Deck/South Beach |
| Welcome Banquet (Ticket Required) | |
|
Thursday, April 23, 2026 |
| 7:30 - 9:00 AM | Pavilion/ Pavilion Lawn |
| Breakfast with Industry | |
| 8:00 - 10:00 AM | Pavilion |
| Poster Session I | |
| 10:15 - 12:15 PM | Bird Key Ballroom |
| Industry Symposium: DATA DRIVEN TOOLS FOR SENSORY PREDICTION | |
| Chair(s): Kathryn Deibler, Xiaorong (Phoebe) Su, Ann-Marie Torregrossa, Casey Trimmer, Theresa White |
| 10:15 - 12:15 PM | Sawyer Key Ballroom |
| THE APPETITION AXIS: INTEGRATING PHASIC SENSORY AND PHYSIOLOGICAL SIGNALS TO DRIVE INGESTION | |
| Chair(s): Lindsey Schier |
10:15 |
Introduction To The Appetition Axis: Integrating Sensory Cues To Drive Ingestion Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States Meal size is largely determined by sensory information arising from the oral cavity and proximal gut during active ingestion. While oral and post-oral signals have mainly been studied in the context of their opposing effects on meal size, with flavor driving intake of nutritious substances and gut feedback terminating intake, Tony Sclafani and others have importantly demonstrated that nutrients can rapidly stimulate intake from post-oral sites of action, increasing meal size in the short term, and reinforcing appetitive and consummatory responses to associated oral cues over the long term through learning, phenomena collectively termed appetition (as opposed to satiation). This symposium will expand the original concept of appetition by exploring: the sequence of post-oral signals that arise during digestion and their differential effects on food learning (Myers), how metabolic cues shape taste perception and reward (Chometton), how non-caloric, essential nutrients such as water, engage appetition-like mechanisms (Daniels), and provide new evidence for the role of hypothalamic melanin-concentrating hormone in the mediation of nutrient-driven appetition (Kanoski). Together, these talks position appetition as a distributed and plastic process and suggest new directions for dissecting how chemosensory, physiological, and central signals converge to control ingestion. |
10:25 |
Phasic Gut Feedback Shapes Flavor-Nutrient Learning Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA, United States It has been a longstanding view that macronutrient molecules (especially sugars and fats) have palatable orosensory properties that stimulate food intake, but that their post-oral effects are generally inhibitory, triggering negative feedback signals that cause meal termination. However, a body of evidence has recently emerged establishing that nutrients sensed in the gut can give rise to immediate positive feedback signals (termed ‘appetition,’ in contrast to the better-understood ‘satiation’ signals) that stimulate ongoing intake, increase meal size, and produce learned preferences for tastes and flavors in the meal. This presentation will provide an overview of the behavioral properties of appetition, including evidence from our work in a rat model that within the first several minutes of a meal, animals psychologically ‘attribute’ gut nutrient sensing to the specific flavor of the food they are currently consuming. Although appetition acts to increase intake and steer preference towards nutrient-dense foods, the relationship between appetition, flavor-nutrient learning, and diet-induced obesity is complex. We have found that with long-term access to high-fat/sugar diet, rats who gain the most weight also show the strongest appetition responses, including both immediate intake stimulation by gut nutrient infusion and learned preference for nutrient-paired flavors. However, rats selectively bred to be highly prone or resistant to diet-induced obesity show no differences in appetition responses prior to obesogenic diet access, suggesting that sensitized appetition is a consequence, not a cause, of chronic overeating and/or obesity. The presentation will conclude with an overview of some important unanswered questions about the psychology and neurobiology of appetition. |
10:55 |
Nutritional Reprogramming Of Oral Glucosensing 1Université Bourgogne Europe, Institut Agro, CNRS, INRAE, UMR CSGA, Dijon, France, 2Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States Glucose is an essential source of energy for all living organisms. Because this nutrient is mainly provided by the diet, it is necessary for the body to rapidly detect and motivate the ingestion of glucose-containing substances. The oral taste system is critical for recognizing nutrients in the environment and initiating ingestion. Chemically- and metabolically-diverse compounds including simple sugars, like glucose, low-calorie sweeteners, and D-amino acids engage a common “sweet taste” receptor (T1R2+T1R3), yet rodents will preferentially consume glucose over these other substrates over the long term. Our recent work demonstrates that experience with the post-ingestive effects of two metabolically distinct sugars, glucose and fructose, enables animals to subsequently discriminate these two initially similar-tasting compounds based on orosensory information, and generates a preference for glucose over fructose. This result has also been observed in mice lacking the canonical sweet taste receptor, showing that a T1R-independent pathway is involved. In this talk, I will present recent evidence we uncovered for how the post-ingestive effects of sugar reprogram metabolism-dependent and -independent glucosensing pathways in the taste bud cells, and amplify the responsiveness of taste neurons in the rostral nucleus of the solitary tract to oral glucose, in a T1R-independent fashion. Overall, these findings expand our understanding of orosensory mechanisms underlying glucose appetition. |
11:15 |
Fluid Balance Revisited: Oral, Postoral, And Central Signals Driving Water Intake Department of Biological Sciences and the Center for Ingestive Behavior Research, University at Buffalo, SUNY, Buffalo, NY, United States Discussions of appetition have largely focused on food intake, although a significant amount of research on the topic has provided 'food' in fluid form. Although presenting 'food' in liquid form is common and often necessary, the large amount of water consumed as the vehicle for the food creates a potential confounding variable. For this and other reasons, it is important to ask if the concept of appetition can be extended to include thirst and water intake. ‘Appetition,’ however, is used inconsistently as a term, making it challenging to determine if its application to fluid intake is ever appropriate. On one hand, the term is used to refer to feedback from the gut that acts to increase the size of a meal. In this sense, the focus on the gut likely makes the term inapplicable to water consumption. If, on the other hand, the specificity of the gut is less important to the overall concept, and appetition also encompasses signals from the oral cavity that promote intake, then findings from our laboratory and from others showing sensitized responses to dipsogens fit into the appetition framework. In this sense, water intake sensitization also could serve as a new model of appetition, with a yet to be discovered neural or hormonal signals mediating the response. A discussion of these issues, as well as a description of the findings related to sensitization of water intake, will be presented. |
11:45 |
Mch And The Drive To Continue: Hypothalamic Control Of Nutrient-Based Appetition Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States Peripheral nutrient detection is rapidly communicated to the brain and translated into decisions about meal size and food choice. While the neural mechanisms that limit intake and terminate meals are well characterized, the central processes that amplify ingestion in response to nutrient signals – i.e., “appetition” – remain poorly understood. The hypothalamus, as a central hub for the integration of nutrient sensing and motivated behavior, represents a likely target for the central mediation of appetition. This presentation will review data establishing a role for the hypothalamic neuropeptide melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) as a key central mediator driving nutrient-based appetition. Based on emerging findings, a framework will be presented whereby different populations of MCH neurons located in the lateral hypothalamus and the zona incerta promote distinct components of appetition. |
| 12:15 - 2:00 PM | Lunch On Own |
| Lunch On Own | |
| 2:00 - 3:30 PM | Bird Key Ballroom |
| The Barry Davis Funding Workshop for New Investigators | |
| 2:00 - 3:30 PM | Jacaranda Hall |
| Practical demonstrations of clinical chemosensory tests | |
| This practical session is meant to provide a very practical overview about techniques that are used in a clinical context to assess chemosensory functions, including olfactory, gustatory, and trigeminal functions. In addition, techniques to address psychological/cognitive issues related to olfactory function and dysfunction will be shown. The various techniques will be presented by researchers experienced in clinical chemosensory research, including Bob Pellegrino from Philadelphia, Caroline Huart from Brussels, and Akshita Joshi from Bethesda and Thomas Hummel from Dresden. There will be 4 stations, and the participants would rotate clockwise through stations 1 to 4. They will stay at each station for 15 min. The 4 stations will be: Station 1: Smell testing (e.g., Sniffin Sticks, UPSIT, CCCRC test, SSParoT, retronasal testing): Thomas Hummel, Dresden, Germany; Station 2: Taste testing (e.g., taste sprays, taste strips, electrogustometry, PROP/PTC test): Robert Pellegrino, Philadelphia, PA, USA; Station 3: Trigeminal testing (e.g., lateralization, AMMOLA-test, oral capsaicin test, CO2 threshold): Akshita Joshi, Bethesda, USA; Station 4: Psychological testing/questionnaires (e.g., SNOT, QOD, WHO wellbeing, MOCA): Caroline Huart, Brussels, Belgium |
| Chair(s): Thomas Hummel |
| 3:30 - 5:30 PM | Pavilion |
| Poster Session II | |
| 5:45 - 6:45 PM | Garden Courtyard |
| Networking Reception | |
| 7:30 - 9:30 PM | Sawyer Key Ballroom |
| Polak Awards Lectures | |
| The Polak Foundation Awards are awarded in honor of the Elsje-Werner-Polak Memorial Fund in memory of our niece gassed by the
Nazis in 1944 at age 7: Ghislaine Polak and the late Ernest Polak. |
|
Friday, April 24, 2026 |
| 7:30 - 9:00 AM | Pavilion/ Pavilion Lawn |
| Continental Breakfast | |
| 8:00 - 10:00 AM | Pavilion |
| Poster Session III | |
| 10:15 - 12:15 PM | Bird Key Ballroom |
| LATERALIZED AND INTEGRATED PROCESSING IN THE OLFACTORY SYSTEM | |
| Chair(s): Thorsten Kahnt and Clara Raithel |
10:15 |
Lateralized And Integrated Processing In The Olfactory System NIDA IRP, Baltimore, MD, United States The olfactory system universally relies on sensory input from two anatomically distinct channels (e.g., antennae, nares, nostrils). For some tasks, these separate streams of information are best kept separate, whereas for others, perception and behavior benefits from their integration. This symposium will highlight recent advances in our understanding of how olfactory information from the two channels is processed in the brain, spanning a wide range of neuroscience methods (behavior, electrophysiology, imaging, computation) and model organisms (flies, rodents, humans). First, Naz Dikecligil will present data from intracranial recording experiments in humans, showing that bilateral odor stimulation evokes temporally segregated odor representations. Second, Clara Raithel will discuss human behavioral and neuroimaging data from experiments with single-nostril odor stimulation. Next, Venki Murthy will present electrophysiology evidence on how bilateral odor information is integrated in the rodent brain. Finally, Aravi Samuel will discuss calcium imaging data from larval Drosophila, revealing laterality from sensory neurons to mushroom body output neurons. Together, this symposium will provide a cross-species overview on how lateralized olfactory information is shared across hemispheres, and how it may be kept separate, to optimally inform behavior. |
10:25 |
Piriform Cortex Takes Sides: Temporally-Segregated Odor Representations From Ipsilateral And Contralateral Nostrils Within A Sniff 1University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States, 2Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, AZ, United States The human nose, often thought of as a singular sensory organ, contains two distinct sensory channels arising from the left and right olfactory epithelia. Although there has been extensive work on how the olfactory system responds to odorants, relatively little is known on how the olfactory system ultimately integrates odor information arising from its two segregated sensory channels. In this study, we set out to investigate whether the human piriform cortex (PC) maintains distinct and separable representations of odor information arising from each nostril. We recorded intracranial electroencephalogram (iEEG) signals from PC of epilepsy patients undergoing invasive monitoring, enabling us to characterize odor responses with high spatial and temporal resolution. Subjects participated in an odor identification task, where odors were delivered either to the left, right, or bilateral nostrils via a computer-controlled olfactometer. We analyzed the time course of odor identity coding and found that, on average, odor identity information from the ipsilateral nostril is encoded ∼480-ms faster than the contralateral nostril. During bi-nostril odor sampling, odor information emerged in two temporally segregated epochs, with the first epoch corresponding to the ipsilateral and the second epoch corresponding to the contralateral odor representations. These findings reveal that PC maintains distinct representations of odor input from each nostril through temporal segregation, highlighting an olfactory coding scheme at the cortical level that can parse odor information across nostrils within the course of a single inhalation. |
10:55 |
Exploring Lateralized Processing In The Human Olfactory System National Institute on Drug Abuse, Intramural Research Program, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD, United States The human olfactory system receives sensory information from two anatomically distinct nostrils. Existing evidence on how these separate streams of information are processed in the human brain and used for behavior is inconclusive. Furthermore, nasal cycling is often ignored in the existing literature or discussed purely as an afterthought. In this study, we ask how the olfactory system encodes sensory inputs from the left and right nostril, and how both behavior and neural representations are influenced by nasal cycle. For this purpose, we developed a novel olfactory perceptual decision-making task in which we deliver binary odor mixtures to the left or right nostril and ask participants to indicate the dominant component in the mixture. We simultaneously record brain activity using fMRI and measure nasal airflow in each nostril separately to account for differences in neural representations as a function of the nasal cycle. Our findings suggest that participants can successfully discriminate unilaterally delivered odor mixtures. Interestingly, although participants cannot reliably determine the site of odor stimulation (left vs. right nostril), brain responses in primary olfactory regions are highly lateralized, showing significantly stronger responses to ipsi- compared to contralateral odor delivery. This finding is broadly in line with the existing empirical evidence on primarily ipsilateral anatomical projections from the olfactory periphery to the primary olfactory cortex. |
11:15 |
Bilateral Integration Of Odor Information In The Mouse 1Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, United States, 2Dept of Molecular & Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, United States, 3SupBiotech, L’école des ingénieurs en biotechnologies, Paris, France In the mammalian olfactory system, information from each nostril is thought to be mapped in a distributed and fragmented manner in higher brain regions, such that the same odor environment may be represented independently in the two sides. How can an animal create a consistent and unified internal representation from these differing pieces of evidence? The earliest brain region with interhemispheric projections is the anterior olfactory nucleus (AON), making it an excellent candidate for bilateral integration of odor information. We have found that the responses to odors sensed through the two different nostrils are highly correlated in each side of the brain. Such aligned representations mean that a population of cortical neurons will have very similar responses whether the animal smells the odor through one nostril or the other. With a simple mathematical model, we showed that random interhemispheric connectivity leads to uncorrelated representations, hence the mapping must be structured in some way. Indeed, matched odor representation can readily arise from conventional correlation-based, Hebbian synaptic plasticity of initially unstructured connections. Using viral tracing of specific subtypes of neurons within the AON, we have found that interhemispheric projections arise exclusively from glutamatergic neurons, but their axons target both glutamatergic and GABAergic neurons in the contralateral side. Optogenetics-assisted synaptic physiology revealed that contralaterally-projecting AON axons readily evoke monosynaptic excitation followed by polysynaptic inhibition. Collectively, our experiments point to structured integration of information in the two hemispheres in early olfactory cortical areas, setting the stage for future investigations into the origin of this structure and its function. |
11:45 |
Brain-Wide Representations Of Olfactory Navigational Behavior In C. Elegans Department of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, United States Olfactory navigation towards improved environments requires a dynamic interplay between an animal's brain activity and body movement. The small size of C. elegans permits multi-neuronal imaging of brain-wide activity in response to defined olfactory environments. Its undulatory body permits a reduction of navigational movement to stimulus-dependent transitions between forward, reverse, and turning motor states. Here, we use brain-wide tracking microscopy to monitor the circuit for olfactory navigation in crawling worms climbing spatial odor gradients and immobilized worms responding to temporal odor pulses. In both crawling and immobilized animals, we identify strongly-correlated brain-wide activity patterns from olfactory sensory neurons to interneurons to premotor neurons. The spatial pattern of activity correlations between specific neurons in the brain is jointly dependent on sensory and motor activity, but also directly dependent on whether the worm is actively crawling in a spatial gradient (where body movement is coupled to sensory perception) or whether the worm is immobilized and subjected to odor pulses. The temporal dynamics of transitions between forward/backward motor states is directly dependent on whether the animal is actively crawling or immobilized. Moreover, the temporal dynamics of neurons that underlie motor state transitions are modulated by crawling and immobilization. The brain-wide representation of olfactory response and decision-making are broadly reconfigured by an animal's body movements within its odor environment. |
| 10:15 - 12:15 PM | Sawyer Key Ballroom |
| NEW APPROACH METHODOLOGIES (NAMS) IN CHEMOSENSORY AND INTEROCEPTION RESEARCH | |
| Chair(s): Ben Smith and Danielle Reed |
10:15 |
New Approach Methodologies (Nams) In Chemosensory And Interoception Research Monell Chemical Senses Center, Philadelphia , PA, United States Chemosensory and interoceptive systems represent a primary interface between the external chemical environment and internal physiology, positioning them at the center of “exposome” science. This symposium examines the role of New Approach Methodologies, emphasizing their integration into established experimental traditions rather than their use in isolation. From a regulatory and exposure science perspective informed by work across academia, industry, and government, the session highlights how human-relevant NAM platforms, including organoids, ex vivo transitional systems, and computational models, can strengthen links between exposure, dose, and biological response. Speakers will underscore the continued importance of experimental systems that preserve intact neural circuits, sensory-driven behavior, and learning, which have been central to foundational discoveries in chemosensory neuroscience, including work that has defined how the brain reads olfactory, gustatory, and interoceptive signals. By drawing on complementary examples across model systems, the symposium emphasizes convergence and cross-validation as essential scientific principles. Discussions will focus on how insights from animal studies inform the design and interpretation of NAMs, and how NAMs in turn can refine hypotheses. Framed within an exposome context, this session aims to foster inclusive and rigorous dialogue across the AChemS community on how best to integrate emerging and established approaches to advance chemosensory science. |
10:25 |
Building Confidence In Nams: Lessons From Regulatory Science Johns Hopkins University |
10:55 |
New Approach Methodologies In Olfactory Dysfunction: Human Organoids As A Species-Specific In Vitro Model 1University of Pennsylvania, Department of Otorhinolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery, Philadelphia, PA, United States, 2Monell Chemical Senses Center, Philadelphia, PA, United States, 3Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center Surgical Services, Philadelphia, PA, United States Olfactory dysfunction (OD) is common and has implications for safety, quality of life, and nutrition. Mouse models have been foundational in the study of OD; however, differences between mouse and human olfactory epithelium (OE) limit the translatability of results. Recent NIH guidance encourages a shift from animal to human-specific models in research, and organoids represent a New Approach Methodology (NAM) that can support this progress. We have developed a human olfactory organoid model using superior turbinate biopsies (which are positive for olfactory genes and proteins, indicating the presence of OE). Dissociated cells generate olfactory organoids when cultured in supplemented media, and the resulting organoids express key OE genes and proteins. They also contain cells with the characteristic appearance of olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs), which are responsible for transducing chemical information to the brain. As a control, organoids cultured from non-OE tissue do not express these markers. The olfactory organoids also show activation in response to select odorants, a surrogate of OSN function. Next, it will be important to determine whether cultures respond to the same complement of odorants as the human nose. It will also be crucial to mimic the OE microenvironment by co-culturing the organoids with immune cells. Drawing on our expertise in the diverse chemical structures of odorants, we plan to assess class-specific odorant response to better understand how well this model represents human olfaction. This human olfactory organoid NAM represents a promising step forward in the study of human olfaction and can be optimized for downstream studies to provide insight for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. |
11:15 |
Chicken Egg As A Translational New Approach Methodology (Nam) In Sensory Science: Insights From Genotoxicity Studies Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, New York Medical College, Valhalla, NY, United States Avian egg-based (in ovo) models, particularly those utilizing chicken embryos, have a long history of use in biomedical research, notably in cancer biology and immunology fields. The avian embryo is a metabolically competent, intact organism, with developmental and phenotypic similarities to mammals, offering advantages over invertebrate models. The Chicken Egg Model (CEM), was developed as a New Approach Methodology (NAM) to support or potentially replace short-term in vivo genotoxicity assays, serving as a follow-up screening test for compounds positive in regulatory in vitro tests. CEM uses embryo-fetal livers from White Leghorn chicken (Gallus gallus) eggs to assess chemical-induced DNA damage, such as the formation of nuclear DNA adducts and strand breaks. The model has been evaluated with diverse carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic chemicals, including flavor and fragrance materials, and has demonstrated robust performance for genotoxicity assessment. CEM can detect genotoxic potential of a broader range of compounds compared to in vitro assays with S9 supplementation as evident from the concordance analysis of 87 chemicals. It revealed stronger correlation of CEM with in vivo genotoxicity assays (76% sensitivity and 79% specificity) than with in vitro assays (58% sensitivity and 45% specificity). In contrast to standard in vitro assays, CEM enables evaluation of other endpoints, including histopathology and tissue-specific gene expression. Moreover, physiological and behavioral responses of chickens to transient receptor potential (cTRP) and type 2 taste receptor (cT2R) ligands demonstrate functional chemosensory sensitivity. Collectively, these findings support CEM as a potential translational NAM in sensory science, particularly for the safety evaluation of sensory-active compounds. |
11:45 |
Can Ai Understand The Physical World Without Smelling It? A Multimodal Representational Framework For Olfaction 1University of Texas at Dallas, Dallas, TX, United States, 2Amai Consulting, LLC, Denver, CO, United States, 3Nerdoscientist, LLC, Chalfont, PA, United States Modern generative AI has achieved remarkable success in simulating human-like text and images. However, these models remain "disembodied," lacking the chemical grounding that is fundamental to biological intelligence. While AI integrates vision and audition to move closer to a "world model," the chemical senses, olfaction and gustation, remain largely absent. Consequently, AI lacks a true representation of the physical environment, relying on linguistic descriptions of smells rather than the underlying chemical reality. We present a novel multimodal framework that integrates olfactory signals at the molecular level into a shared "joint-embedding" space alongside visual and linguistic data. Using public datasets, we developed a system where molecular structures, physical objects, and semantic descriptors are mapped into a unified multidimensional map. These results demonstrate the feasibility of this cross-modal alignment and serve as a “call to action”: high-fidelity, curated chemosensory datasets are essential to unlock the full predictive potential of these models to bridge the gap between chemical structure and human perception. By placing chemical senses on equal footing with vision and language, we move beyond building “smarter” AI, and invite the chemosensory community to lead the evolution of next-generation AI where the digitization of smell and taste fundamentally transforms how we interact with technology, our environment, and each other. |
| 12:15 - 1:30 PM | Lunch On Own |
| Lunch On Own | |
| 1:30 - 2:30 PM | Bird Key Ballroom |
| Business Meeting | |
| Get involved! All members are welcome and
encouraged to attend. |
| 2:30 - 3:30 PM | Bird Key Ballroom |
| BOOST Lecture | |
|
Flight By Night, Or The Ecological And Anatomical Context Of Bat Chemosensory Evolution Professor, Department of Ecology and Evolution, Stony Brook University |
| 3:45 - 5:45 PM | Pavilion |
| Poster Session IV | |
| 7:30 - 9:30 PM | Sawyer Key Ballroom |
| Award Lectures | |
|
Saturday, April 25, 2026 |
| 7:30 - 9:00 AM | Pavilion/ Pavilion Lawn |
| Continental Breakfast | |
| 8:00 - 10:00 AM | Pavilion |
| Poster Session V | |
| 10:15 - 12:15 PM | Bird Key Ballroom |
| Oral Abstracts | |
| 10:15 - 12:15 PM | Sawyer Key Ballroom |
| Oral Abstracts | |
| 12:15 - 1:30 PM | Lunch On Own |
| Lunch On Own | |
| 1:30 - 3:00 PM | Bird Key Ballroom |
| Journal Club | |
| 1:30 - 3:30 PM | Sawyer Key Ballroom |
| Smell Safari: Field-Based Tools for Mapping and Communicating Human Smellscapes | |
| To link odor exposure to human well-being
(Bratman et al. 2024), track landscape-scale change (e.g., pollution effects; Quercia et al. 2015), and anchor chemosensory neuroscience in real-world odor statistics (Wachowiak et al. 2025), researchers must move beyond the laboratory and conduct controlled field studies. The proposed workshop will introduce and evaluate new methodologies for capturing, quantifying, and communicating the olfactory dimension of outdoor environments, an emerging frontier for chemosensory science. Three complementary talks will move from personal odor logging, to art-based engagement, to quantitative odor measurement, and finally to an on-site “Smell Safari” around the new AChemS venue in St. Pete, Florida. Collectively, the workshop will (i) highlight mobile and crowd-sourced approaches that scale olfactory research beyond the laboratory, (ii) demonstrate how trans-disciplinary collaborations with the arts and environmental humanities can broaden public awareness of smell, and (iii) provide attendees with an overview of sensory and psychophysical methods used in the laboratory and how they can be translated to field protocols to build georeferenced “smellscape” datasets. Lastly, the workshop will end with an interactive smell walk activity to explore and tag odors in the new St. Pete conference environment using the tools and techniques discussed. By centering smell in real-world contexts, the workshop will advance discussion on how human olfaction shapes well-being while showcasing new approaches to collecting data and capturing naturalistic smellscapes. It will also be fun! As the workshop is designed to engage trainees through both junior-investigator presentations and hands-on data collection during the concluding indoor / outdoor exercise. |
| Chair(s): Robert Pellegrino |
| 3:30 - 3:45 PM | GRAND PALM COLONNADE |
| Coffee Break | |
| 3:45 - 5:45 PM | Bird Key Ballroom |
| Clinical Symposium:Olfaction Impairment In Older Adults: Associations With Health Beyond COVID-19 and Neurodegeneration | |
| Sponsored in part By: Sensonics |
| Chair(s): Honglei Chen and Jayant Pinto |
3:45 |
Olfaction Impairment In Older Adults: Associations With Health Beyond Covid-19 And Neurodegeneration Michigan State University Despite the recent COVID-19 pandemic, public awareness of olfactory loss in the general population remains low. This is particularly concerning for the health of older adults, as the prevalence of hyposmia increases quickly from ~6% at age 50 to ~60% by age 80. Currently, our understanding of olfactory loss and the health of older adults is limited primarily to its role as an early warning sign for neurodegenerative diseases. Emerging evidence, however, suggests that olfactory impairment may signal deteriorating health in older adults across multiple domains and may indicate accelerated aging. Furthermore, the olfactory system is uniquely positioned at the interface between the human body and the environment, offering an opportunity to explore how environmental factors may affect the health of older adults. In this symposium, we will discuss how olfaction may inform healthy aging, extending beyond COVID-19 and neurodegeneration. The first two speakers will discuss recent epidemiological findings on olfaction, physical function, and disease outcomes of aging beyond neurodegeneration. The third speaker will present multi-omics findings from cohort studies to inform the biological mechanisms and pathways linking olfaction to aging outcomes. The final presentation will brainstorm innovative ideas, identify knowledge gaps, discuss challenges, and develop strategies for exploring this concept. Notably, real-world epidemiological data from population-based studies have been underrepresented at the AChemS meeting. We anticipate that this symposium will generate significant interest among scientists at the 2026 AChemS meeting and encourage a lively discussion on new opportunities to investigate how the olfactory system connects to a range of human physiological functions in the context of aging. |
3:55 |
Olfaction Impairment In Older Adults: Associations With Health Beyond Covid-19 And Neurodegeneration 1Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, United States, 2Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Baltimore, MD, United States, 3National Institute on Aging, Bethesda, MD, United States, 4University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States Despite the recent COVID-19 pandemic, public awareness of olfactory loss in the general population remains low. This is particularly concerning for the health of older adults, as the prevalence of hyposmia increases quickly from ~6% at age 50 to ~60% by age 80. Currently, our understanding of olfactory loss and the health of older adults is limited primarily to its role as an early warning sign for neurodegenerative diseases. Emerging evidence, however, suggests that olfactory impairment may signal deteriorating health in older adults across multiple domains and may indicate accelerated aging. Furthermore, the olfactory system is uniquely positioned at the interface between the human body and the environment, offering an opportunity to explore how environmental factors may affect the health of older adults. In this symposium, we will discuss how olfaction can inform and influence healthy aging, extending beyond COVID-19 and neurodegeneration. The first two speakers will discuss recent exciting findings from large epidemiological studies on olfaction, physical function, and disease outcomes of aging beyond neurodegeneration. The third speaker will present multi-omics findings from cohort studies to inform the biological mechanisms and pathways linking olfaction to aging outcomes. The final presentation will brainstorm innovative ideas, identify knowledge gaps, discuss challenges, and develop strategies for exploring this concept. Notably, real-world epidemiological data from population-based studies have been underrepresented at the AChemS meeting. We anticipate that this symposium will generate significant interest and encourage a lively discussion on new opportunities to investigate how the olfactory system connects to a range of human physiological functions in the context of aging. |
4:25 |
Poor Olfaction And Risks Of Pneumonia Hospitalization And Cardiovascular Diseases In Older Adults: Evidence From Two Community-Based Cohorts 1Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, United States, 2Section of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Department of Surgery, The University of Chicago Medicine and Biological Sciences, Chicago, IL, United States, 3Translational Gerontology Branch, Intramural Research Program of the National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD, United States, 4Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States, 5The Memory Impairment and Neurodegenerative Dementia (MIND) Center, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS, United States Poor olfaction is common in older adults and may signify broader health implications beyond neurodegenerative diseases. We examined the association between poor olfaction and risks of pneumonia and cardiovascular diseases in two biracial, community-based cohorts of older adults. In the Health, Aging and Body Composition (Health ABC) Study, 2,494 participants (mean age 75.6 years; 48.4% men; 61.7% White) completed the Brief Smell Identification Test at baseline. Olfaction was categorized as good (test score 11-12), moderate (9-10), or poor (0-8). Over a median follow-up of 12.1 years, poor olfaction was associated with higher rates of total pneumonia hospitalizations (intensity ratio 1.46, 95% CI 1.22-1.75) and first-ever pneumonia hospitalization (hazard ratio 1.37, 95% CI 1.06-1.79), after accounting for potential confounding and the competing risk of death. Results were consistent across sex and race subgroups. In the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study, approximately 5,800 older adults (mean age 75.5 years; 41.0% men; 77.8% White) completed the 12-item Sniffin’ Sticks odor identification test at baseline. Olfaction was categorized using the same test score cutoffs as in Health ABC. During up to 10 years of follow-up, poor olfaction was associated with higher risks of incident stroke, coronary heart disease (CHD), and heart failure (HF). The multivariable-adjusted risk ratios (95% CI) for stroke were 2.14 (1.22-3.94) at year 2, 1.98 (1.43-3.02) at year 4, 1.91 (1.43-2.77) at year 6, 1.49 (1.17-2.00) at year 8, and 1.45 (1.16-1.95) at year 10. Similar associations were observed for CHD, whereas the association with HF differed slightly. Together, these findings provide evidence that poor olfaction is associated with higher risks of pneumonia and cardiovascular diseases in older adults. |
4:45 |
Omics Profiles Of Olfaction In Aging And Diseases National Institute on Aging, Baltimore, MD, United States Olfaction deteriorates during aging, and olfactory deficit is an early sign of cognitive decline and neurodegenerative diseases. However, factors contributing to the loss of olfaction and the biological underpinnings of why olfaction serves as an early indicator of aging and diseases remain unclear. Potential mechanisms, such as lipid metabolism, immune responses, and diet, may be reflected in blood biomarkers. This talk focuses on omics markers of olfaction using the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging data and discusses future directions and opportunities. Plasma lipid metabolites, assayed via FIA- and LC-mass spectrometry, were analyzed as six lipid classes. Plasma proteomics were assayed via the SomaScan 7k platform. Data was collected between 2015 and March 2020, before the COVID pandemic. From multivariable linear regression after adjusting for age, sex, and race, very long-chain(C22+) and long-chain(C14-C20) sphingomyelins and glycosylceramides were positively associated with olfaction (all p<0.05)(n=656). Very long-chain sphingomyelins and glycosylceramides attenuated and mediated the associations between olfaction and cognitive and physical functions (Δβ:10-26%). Of 7268 proteins examined, 21 proteins were associated with olfaction (p<0.005)(n=380). Top-ranked proteins were involved in the regulation of epithelial cells (CFTR, CRTP1), inflammation and immune responses (S100A11, CRTP1, Calgranulin A), endothelial cells (ROBO4), motor neurons (LMO4), mitosis (UBX2B), and mitochondrial function (PRR16). The identification of plasma omics markers may shed light on the contributing factors of olfaction loss and explain its connection to aging phenotypes and diseases. Future omics studies involving larger samples and longitudinal data are warranted to provide additional mechanistic insights. |
5:15 |
Olfaction And The Health Of Older Adults: Knowledge Gaps, Challenges, And Strategies 1University of Chicago , Chicago, IL, United States, 2Michigan State University , East Lansing, MI, United States, 3Johns Hopkins Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States, 4National Institute on Aging, Baltimore, MD, United States Olfactory function is closely connected to a number of health outcomes in older adults. Indeed, decreased sense of smell has been linked to physical health (pneumonia, vascular disease, stroke, heart disease, and pneumonia. Some of these relationships could explain, in part, the strong association between olfaction and cognitive health (Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias [AD/ADRD]). This portion of the symposium will focus on identifying knowledge gaps in mechanisms that underlie these findings, discuss challenges in designing studies that increase our knowledge in this area, and develop strategies solving these barriers. Understanding how olfaction contributes to the quality and quantity of life among older adults will reveal insights into chemosensory physiology. We will discuss how this concept could be used to slow, mitigate, or reverse the devastating consequences of olfactory and improve the lives of millions of people worldwide. |
| 3:45 - 5:45 PM | Sawyer Key Ballroom |
| GENES AND SENSES: GENETIC REGULATION OF CHEMOSENSATION | |
| Chair(s): Kevin Monahan and Hojoon Lee |
3:45 |
Genes And Senses: Genetic Regulation Of Chemosensation 1Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, United States, 2Department of Neurobiology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, United States This symposium will focus on how gene regulation in chemosensory neurons modifies and shapes the perception of chemical stimuli. We highlight work at each level of perception, moving inward from the first detection of chemical compounds to central pathways that modulate the response to chemical stimuli. At the most peripheral level, perception is dictated by the expression of chemoreceptor proteins, and Thirada Boonrawd from Hojoon Lee’s lab will share new findings on the expression of Tas2r bitter receptor genes by ‘bitter’ sensing cells in the mouse tongues. Beyond simply detecting chemical compounds, chemosensory neurons respond to changes in the chemical environment by modifying their activity and excitability. Joshua Danoff from Kevin Monahan’s lab will describe new findings about how sustained neuronal activity modifies chromatin structure and gene regulation in mouse olfactory sensory neurons. Within the central nervous system, the response to chemical stimuli is modified by the state of the organism. Eirene Markenscoff-Papadimitriou will report new findings from her lab that describe how hunger status influences sensory perception by modifying gene expression and chromatin structure in rostral NTS neurons in the mouse brainstem, which acts as the first relay station from taste neurons coming in from the tongue. Finally, Monica Dus will relate new findings that explain how diet influences sensory adaptations in D. melanogaster gustatory neurons |
3:55 |
The Many Ways To Be Bitter Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, United States The sense of taste allows animals to distinguish between nutritious foods and poisonous compounds in their diet. Taste receptor cells (TRCs) within taste buds express dedicated receptors to detect the five taste qualities: sweet, umami, bitter, salty, and sour. In mice, the Tas1r2 and Tas1r3 dimer forms the receptor for sugars. The Tas1r1 and Tas1r3 dimer forms the receptor for amino acids. Meanwhile, there are 35 known bitter receptors (Tas2rs), which are important for detecting numerous noxious compounds in the diet. Previous studies have only used dual color in situ hybridization to investigate the expression patterns of Tas1rs and Tas2rs. Therefore, the co-expression patterns of groups of Tas2rs remains unknown. To address this knowledge gap, we tracked co-expression of multiple Tas2rs and Tas1rs in the TRCs of the mouse circumvallate papilla and fungiform papilla using RNAscope, a multiplexed mRNA FISH method. I will present ongoing work which suggests that most Tas2rs often co-express together, and are usually not co-expressed with Tas1r2. However, we observe that some Tas1rs and Tas2rs are more broadly expressed than previously thought. |
4:25 |
Activity Dependent Regulation Of Gene Expression And Chromatin Structure In Mouse Olfactory Sensory Neurons Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, United States Olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs) calibrate to odor environments by dampening their response to abundant odorants and heightening their response to rare odorants. This calibration requires transcriptional changes in genes that impact neuronal excitability, ultimately tuning the activity of each OSN to its environment. Using ATAC-seq and Micro-C, we investigate how chromatin structure differs in highly active and inactive neurons. First, we find abundant differential chromatin accessibility among OSNs that are highly active compared to those that are not active. Activity-open peaks are enriched for known transcription factors in OSNs, including Lhx2 and Ebf, and the neuronal activity-dependent transcription factor Nfat. Gene ontology analysis indicates that activity-open peaks are associated with genes involved in synaptic transmission and olfactory perception. We then use Micro-C to compare 3D genome structures in highly active and inactive neurons, focusing on enhancer-promoter interactions at activity dependent genes. Using these approaches, we have identified how chromatin organization is modified by neuronal activity and enables expression of activity dependent genes, an essential process for olfactory sensory neurons to calibrate excitability to their environment. |
4:45 |
Metabolic Modulation Of Taste Processing In The Brainstem Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, United States Taste perception plays a central role in shaping feeding behavior, yet how metabolic state modulates early taste processing in the brainstem remains poorly understood. The objective of this study was to determine how food deprivation alters the molecular and circuit-level properties of neurons in the rostral nucleus of the solitary tract (rNTS), the first central relay for taste information in the mammalian brain. To address this, we combined RNAscope™ in situ hybridization, nuclear RNA sequencing of fluorescently sorted cell nuclei, and viral-based anterograde and retrograde circuit tracing to profile defined rNTS neuronal populations in mice fed ad libitum or subjected to 24 hours of food deprivation. We found that the majority of taste-responsive rNTS neurons are glutamatergic. Acute food deprivation induced robust, state-dependent changes in rNTS gene expression, including differential regulation of genes associated with synaptic signaling and metabolic responsiveness (false discovery rate <0.05). Circuit mapping revealed convergent local and long-range inputs onto rNTS neurons that undergo hunger-dependent molecular remodeling, identifying a previously unrecognized brainstem connectivity hub. Together, these findings demonstrate that taste processing in the brainstem is highly dynamic and sensitive to metabolic state, establishing the rNTS as an active site where internal state reshapes sensory circuits to regulate homeostatic feeding behavior. |
5:15 |
Chemosensory Neuromodulation By Extracellular Rna Transfer 1The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States, 2University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, United States While it is increasingly accepted that non-neuronal support cells actively shape sensory perception, the precise molecular languages they use to converse with neurons are still being worked out. We identify the immediate early gene Activity-regulated cytoskeleton-associated protein 1 (Arc1) as a key player in the neuromodulation of the Drosophila gustatory system. We show that sweet taste sensitivity is influences by a capsid-mediated molecular 'handshake' between thecogen support cells and sensory endings. This communication is plastic and depends on nutrient sensing. By demonstrating that support cells use viral-like capsids to transfer Arc1 and tune neuronal excitability, our findings reveal a sophisticated, cargo-specific signaling axis that is fundamental to sensory and nutritional homeostasis. |
| 7:30 - 9:30 PM | Bird Key Ballroom |
| Presidential Symposium:Ultra-Processed Foods, the Senses, and Health: Exploring the Evidence | |
7:30 |
Why Do We Eat What We Eat?: Brain And Metabolic Responses To Processed Foods Virginia Tech, Roanoke, VA, United States Here, I will present data from studies in the lab examining the neural and physiological responses to processed foods. First, we examined acute metabolic and physiological effects of two meals matched on nutrient composition but differing in level of processing. We observe differences in blood glucose response, respiratory quotient, and energy expenditure following consumption of these meals. This difference in metabolic response correlates with neural activity in response to food pictures as measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Next, to examine the longer-term effects of ultra-processed food (UPF) intake on energy intake and brain response to palatable foods, we conducted an RCT in 18–25-year-olds. This was a fully cross over trial where participants ate a diet containing 0% kcals from UPF or 81% kcals from UPF in a random order. We assessed energy intake in an ad libitum buffet meal and in an eating in the absence of hunger paradigm. We observed higher energy intake after the UPF diet intervention compared to the no-UPF diet in both tests, but only our younger cohort. There was a negative linear relationship between energy intake and age. Brain response as measured by fMRI to a palatable UPF milkshake was also altered, again in the younger cohort, with less activity in the orbito-frontal cortex after the UPF diet compared to the no-UPF diet. Taken together these data indicate the processing, even when nutrient composition is held constant, can alter acute physiological response and consumption of these diets can lead to changes in eating behavior and brain response to food, especially in younger people. |
8:00 |
Misspecifying Mechanisms Misleads Policy And Practical Solutions: It&Rsquo;S Not About The Processing 1Sensory Evaluation Center, University Park, PA, United States, 2Department of Food Science, The Pennsylvania State University , University Park, PA, United States HL Mencken infamously quipped every complex problem has a well-known solution that is “neat, plausible, and wrong”. We have known for 35+ years that excessive intake of highly energy dense (ED) foods that that are high in fat, salt, and sugar (HFSS) are deleterious to health. In 2009 and 2011, the terms “ultraprocessed” and “hyperpalatable” entered the scientific literature in rapid succession; systematic critiques of these concepts emerged almost immediately, but this framing caught on quickly, resulting in hundreds of publications over the past ~15 years. Here, I will argue such framing misspecifies the problem mechanistically, and in doing so unintentionally misdirects potential solutions in terms of food reformulation and public policy. Data showing that Eating Rate and Energy Density, rather than amount of processing per se, are prime determinants of energy intake will be presented, alongside data showing that food disliking, rather than food liking, is a key driver of food intake in humans. By refocusing on these empirically supported mechanisms – Eating Rate and Energy Density – we can develop more effective interventions that actually address the root causes of excessive energy intake while preserving the pleasure from food. |
8:30 |
A Critical Review Of The Epidemiological, Randomized Controlled Trial, And Mechanistic Data On The Health Efficts Of Ultra-Processed Foods Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, United States There is widespread concern about potential adverse health effects of consuming ultra-processed foods (UPF). Indeed, many nations are incorporating guidance on the intake of such items in their national policies. However, there are multiple definitions of UPF with low concordance on how to classify foods and, as result, their association with various health outcomes. To set health policy, it is desirable to have a convergence of epidemiological evidence (to established associations and at-risk populations), randomized controlled trial (RCT) data (to establish causality) and mechanistic findings (to guide interventions). To-date, there is ample, consistent epidemiological evidence linking UPF intake with adverse health outcomes. However, effect sizes are small, trends in intake are not consistent with trends in obesity (the focus of this presentation) and some sub-populations with high UPF intake have especially good health and longevity. Thus, the epidemiological evidence is still wanting. With respect to RCTs, no educational intervention has yielded beneficial effects on body weight and clinical trials show effects on food intake are transient and effects on body weight range from increased, to no change with high UPF intake, to decreased. Thus, causality has not been established. Multiple mechanisms for UPF effects on ingestive behavior and body weight have been proposed, but none, including a purported contribution of “hyper-palatability” is empirically supported. Some suggest existing data are sufficient to implement dietary guidance to eliminate UPF from the diet, but concerns about resulting increased food-borne illness, food waste, disproportionate burden on food insecure and single-parent households, and possible decreased diet quality suggest an unfavorable risk benefit assessment. |
9:00 |
Dopamine Signaling In Humans: Influence Of Dietary Stimulus, Metabolic State And Adiposity Section on Nutritional and Metabolic Neuroimaging Diabetes, Endocrinology and Obesity Branch, NIDDK, NIH, Bethesda, MD, United States Central dopamine signaling is increasingly understood as a downstream integrator of sensory and metabolic information rather than a unitary “reward” signal, providing a useful framework for examining how ultra-processed foods engage the brain. Human PET neuroimaging demonstrates that dopaminergic signaling is state- and nutrient-dependent. Under fasting conditions, obesity is associated with altered dopamine signaling, whereas in the early post-ingestive state, variability in chemical sensing across oral and gut domains—rather than adiposity per se—shapes dopaminergic responses, appetite, and food choice. These findings suggest that the sensory and post-ingestive features characteristic of ultra-processed foods may influence dopamine signaling in ways not captured by simple reward-deficiency models. Instead, dopamine responses during the extended post-ingestive period may be particularly informative for understanding how circulating nutrients, including lipids, drive dopamine-dependent eating behavior following consumption of highly processed foods. This work parallels robust rodent evidence that intestinal nutrient sensing drives dopamine release, while highlighting key translational challenges in humans, including the optimal timing for capturing maximal post-ingestive dopamine responses. By situating dopamine within a sensory–metabolic integration framework, this work links chemoreception, internal state, and learned food preferences to mechanisms through which some ultra-processed foods may shape motivated eating behavior. |
| 9:30 - 12:00 AM | Sawyer Key Ballroom |
| Dance Party | |