Presentation Details
| How does vomeronasal sensing differ from taste or olfaction? Lisa Stowers, . Scripps Research, La Jolla, CA, USA |
Abstract
In addition to taste and smell, most terrestrial vertebrates also sense chemosignals through the vomeronasal system. Humans are outliers and do not have the functional capability to experience this modality. The main olfactory system has the capability to detect most volatile chemicals, the taste system additionally detects a subset of non-volatile ligands, while the vomeronasal system detects both volatiles and non-volatile small molecules, peptides, and proteins that partially overlap with taste and smell detection. However, the vomeronasal system is thought to serve an entirely different function than taste or smell becuase its neurons and projection to the brain are separated from, engage different circuits, and express unrelated sensory receptors and signal transduction machinary. The field does not know what function the vomeronasal system provides to complement taste and smell. Here we are using head-mounted mini-endoscopes to study the activity of the vomeronasal sensory neurons during freely moving natural sensation. This approach now enables us to begin to determine the functional 'blind spots' of taste and smell that the vomeronasal system fills. Understanding the relationship between the three chemosensory systems will enable us to know if humans are missing an animal superpower, or if we evolved beyond its tether; perhpas losing this system parially accounts for our remarkable behavioral flexibility.
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No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author.