Presentation Details
| What do we really smell: real-time chemical sampling at the olfactory epithelium Irene Zanettin1, Frans Nordén1, Mikael Lundqvist1, Artin Arshamian1, Johan N.Lundström1, 2, 3. 1Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.2Monell Chemical Senses Center, Philadelphia, PA, USA.3Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden |
Abstract
Olfactory perception is typically studied under the implicit assumption that the chemical composition and concentration of an odorant at the nasal entrance accurately reflect the stimulus reaching the olfactory epithelium. However, airflow dynamics, mucosal interactions, and physicochemical properties of odors may substantially transform the stimulus before odorant-receptor binding occurs. Here, we introduce a novel approach combining Proton-Transfer-Reaction Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (PTR-TOF-MS) with simultaneous in vivo sampling at the naris and at the human olfactory epithelium to directly characterize the chemical stimulus that reaches olfactory receptors. Using a range of pure odorants, differing in chemical characteristics, we measured real-time odorant concentration at both sampling locations. Preliminary results reveal variance both between recording locations and odorants, indicating that not all odorant molecules reach the receptor surface equivalently. This variance appears to depend on the chemical identity of the odorant, suggesting that physicochemical properties may shape the effective olfactory stimulus. These findings suggest that perceptual or neural differences may arise from peripheral filtering at the level of the nasal cavity and epithelium, prior to any central neural processing. By directly measuring the chemical stimulus at its point of neural transduction, this work opens new paths for investigating how peripheral processes contribute to odor perception, discrimination, and individual variability in olfaction.
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No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author.
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