Learning to Smell: Olfactory Perception from Neurobiology to Behavior

by Donald A. Wilson, Richard J. Stevenson

Written by a neurobiologist and a psychologist, this volume presents a new theory of olfactory perception. Drawing on research in neuroscience, physiology, and ethology, Donald A. Wilson and Richard J. Stevenson address the fundamental question of how we navigate through a world of chemical encounters and provide a compelling alternative to the "reception-centric" view of olfaction. The major research challenge in olfaction is determining how the brain discriminates one smell from another. Here, the authors hold that olfaction is generally not a simple physiochemical process, but rather a plastic process that is strongly tied to memory. They find the traditional approach―which involves identifying how particular features of a chemical stimulus are represented in the olfactory system―to be at odds with historical data and with a growing body of neurobiological and psychological evidence that places primary emphasis on synthetic processing and experiential factors. Wilson and Stevenson propose that experience and cortical plasticity not only are important for traditional associative olfactory memory but also play a critical, defining role in odor perception and that current views are insufficient to account for current and past data. The book includes a broad comparative overview of the structure and function of olfactory systems, an exploration into the mechanisms of odor detection and olfactory perception, and a discussion of the implications of the authors' theory. Learning to Smell will serve as an important reference for workers within the field of chemical senses and those interested in sensory processing and perception.

Genres: Neuroscience, Nonfiction

328 pages, Hardcover

First published May 11, 2006

Reviews

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I live in a world of smells. I wake up and I start sniffing, probably to the mild amusement/annoyance of my loved ones. I think about smell, flavor, taste, and our relationship to it more or less all day. Consequently, it was not hard for me to dive headlong into this book.

Most of my readings in aroma and flavor come from the food world and are therefore "applied". I read Journal of Food Science, Food Quality and Preference, Journal of Sensory Studies, and Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry for most of my flavor info. The authors of this review-book approach aroma (the actually very rarely use the word "aroma"; more often they use olfaction which is apropos coming from people who study the sense of smell as opposed to the smells themselves) from a very different point of view - they come at it from a neurobiologist/psychologist perspective.

I found this book indescribably interesting - there is still, so much to learn about how we process odors. I've been saying for the past 3 or so years that my goal is to understand why wine smells like it does... and having read this book I am much more equipped to try to answer my question.

As a caveat - it is quite technical, despite the Pop-sci title. Nevertheless, if you are at all interested in what is going on upstairs when you take a big smell of your morning coffee or when you feel a sense of absolute accomplishment when you name an odor that you smell on the street, you should consider reading this book.

[Paul Klammer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whew!!! So clearly written that a non-medical, non- biological- non-psychological, beer loving, food loving, compulsively curious and committed autodidact will exit with a chabged understanding and awareness of a most fundamental sense that still needs much more study as os 2009. I need to find out what knowledge has been added since this book's publ. Can't wait!!!