| adaptation | A reduction in the responsiveness of neurons, produced by prolonged stimulation.
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| anosmia | An inability to smell odors. See specific anosmias.
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| cilia | A tiny tuft of thin hairs projecting out of each olfactory receptor cell and extending through the mucous layer into the nasal cavity; thought to be the site where odorous molecules trigger electrical changes in the olfactory receptor cell.
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| common chemical sense | An aspect of olfaction responsible for the detection of strong concentrations of potentially dangerous substances; responsible for the "feeling" in the nose produced by certain substances.
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| conditioned taste aversion | Learned avoidance of certain taste substances, usually following nausea from ingesting the substance.
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| cross-adaptation | A temporary loss in sensitivity to one odor following exposure to a different odor.
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| cross-fiber theory | The idea that taste qualities are represented by the pattern of neural activity among an ensemble of neurons; also has application in vision, hearing, and smell.
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| flavor | A complex sensation associated with food, based on the food's taste, temperature, texture, and smell.
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| free nerve endings | Nerve cells in the olfactory epithelium that mediate the common chemical sense.
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| mixture suppression | The strength of odor produced by some substance presented alone may be reduced when that same substance is presented in combination with another.
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| multidimensional scaling (MDS) | A quantitative technique for geometrically representing similarity among stimuli.
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| nasal cycle | Periodic alternation in which first one then the other nostril is obstructed.
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| odor adaptation | A reduction in odor sensitivity following prolonged exposure to an odorous substance.
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| odor hallucinations | Odors experienced without any physical stimulus; a phenomenon sometimes associated with brain damage.
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| olfactory brain | A cluster of neural structures that receives projections from the olfactory bulb via the olfactory tract.
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| olfactory bulb | The brain structure that receives input from the olfactory nerve.
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| olfactory epithelium | A patch of tissue situated near the top of the nasal cavity and containing the olfactory receptor cells.
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| olfactory nerve | The bundle of axons from olfactory receptor cells that project to the olfactory bulb, carrying information about odorous substances from the nose to the brain. Also called the first cranial nerve.
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| papillae | Protuberances distributed over the tongue's surface, the walls of which are lined with taste buds.
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| pheromones | Odors that serve as sexual signals.
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| sensory-specific satiety | Eating one particular food may diminish hunger for that food without affecting hunger for other foods.
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| specific anosmias | Conditions in which people have normal odor sensitivity for some substances but reduced sensitivity for other substances. See anosmia.
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| taste buds | Garlic-shaped structures lining the walls of the papillae on the tongue and containing chemical-sensitive cells that register the presence of taste solutions.
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| taste hedonics | Judgments of the pleasantness of taste substances.
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| taste suppression | The reduction in the strength of one taste sensation by another; for example, sugar suppresses the bitter taste of coffee.
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2002 McGraw-Hill Higher Education