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View submission: How does the nose differentiate between thousands of different scents?
Smell receptors are activated by different specific patterns or groups on target molecules, and project to specific regions of the brain. Every molecule can thus activate several different receptor types to varying degrees. The brain recognizes, learns and interprets the pattern of activation a molecule causes. Therefore, even though we have many different smell receptors, we can differentiate many more substances than we have receptor types. Dogs and humans differ in that dogs have more receptor cells, not necessarily more types, so they are more sensitive. Smells differ with concentration , because at low concentration, the weakest receptor answers may not be there, whereas at high concentrations, some receptors may be overloaded. Both changes the pattern of relative intensity between receptor types that the brain interprets, leading to different sensations. Perception of smell is really fascinating, especially the hardwired analysis and information processing.
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