A recent study suggests that our two nostrils operate somewhat independently and possess distinct senses of smell, shedding light on the complexities of how the brain processes sensory information.
Published in Current Biology, the research expands on prior studies involving animals and humans, indicating that our brains may have the ability to process input from each nostril separately while still forming a cohesive perception of a specific smell.
To investigate this phenomenon, scientists from the University of Pennsylvania, the Barrow Neurological Institute, and Ohio State University collaborated with 10 epilepsy patients who had undergone brain electrode implantation. In experiments, participants were exposed to various scents through one nostril, the other, or both simultaneously, and their brain responses were recorded through electrodes as they identified the smells.
The study yielded noteworthy observations. When the same scent was presented to each nostril individually, the resulting brain activity showed similar but not identical patterns, suggesting a degree of independence. Simultaneous exposure to scents through both nostrils produced two distinct bursts of brain activity, indicating that nostrils may not always operate in sync.
Using both nostrils enhanced the identification of odors, occurring more rapidly, underscoring the advantages of having two nostrils.
The brain’s piriform cortex (PC), responsible for processing the sense of smell, played a key role in these findings.
The implications of these discoveries extend beyond the sense of smell, providing new insights into the interconnected processing of various senses by the neural network in our bodies.
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