Functionality of the Human Vomeronasal System
Our lab studies human olfaction. Our two main goals are (1) to
elucidate the systems-level neurobiological mechanisms of olfactory
processing, and (2) to elucidate ways in which chemical sensing
effects human behavior. Methods currently used in our lab are
functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), physiological
monitoring, and olfactory psychophysics. Using these methods we
have recently concentrated on the role of sniffing in olfactory
processing. We have shown that because airflow is slightly different
in each nostril, each nostril is in fact hyper tuned to better perceive
different odorants. In other words, when humans take a sniff, each
nostril conveys to the brain a slightly different olfactory image. We
are now studying how the brain combines these two disparate images
of the olfactory world into a single olfactory percept.
In addition to this major project, other ongoing projects in our lab
are: Using fMRI to ask how are odorants encoded in olfactory cortex;
Using fMRI and psychophysics to ask if humans can spatially localize
odorants; Using psychophysics to study the olfactory deficit in
neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease; Using fMRI,
physiological recording, and psychophysics, to test for the existence
of human pheromones, and the possibility of a functional human
vomeronasal system.
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