matriarch
Rotund retiree
- Joined
- May 25, 2003
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U.S. Researchers Share 2004 Nobel Prize
By MATT MOORE, Associated Press Writer
STOCKHOLM, Sweden - American researchers Richard Axel and Linda B. Buck shared the 2004 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine on Monday for their work on the sense of smell - showing how, for example, a person can smell a lilac in the spring and recall it in the winter.
They discovered genes that give rise to a huge variety of "receptor" proteins that sense particular odors. These proteins are found in cells in the nose, which communicate with the brain.
Axel, 58, of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Columbia University in New York, shared the prize with Buck, 57, of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle.
They reported the gene discoveries jointly in 1991 and have since worked independently shedding further light on the olfactory system.
The Nobel assembly said the sense of smell "helps us detect the qualities we regard as positive. A good wine or a sun ripe wild strawberry activates a whole array of odorant receptors."
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Academy members tell The Associated Press that the decision to give the pair the award was not in light of any medical or commercial payoffs, but rather to honor their exploration of one of the humanity's most profound senses.
Axel and Buck clarified the intricate biological pathway from the nose to the brain that lets people sense smells. A whiff of an odor brings a mix of different molecules into the nose, where each molecule activates several odor receptors. This pattern of activation is interpreted by the brain, letting people recognize and form memories of about 10,000 different odors, the Nobel Assembly said.
Axel and Buck studied mice, which have about 1,000 odor receptor types. People have somewhat fewer.
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Nothing special, I just found this research topic fascinating. I have always been intrigued by the way that aromas can instantly trigger memories.......sometimes an incident, sometimes a place, sometimes a person (no more details than that).
For example, I am constantly amazed, any time I enter a school, any school, and breathe in the scent of the place, my head immediately brings up pictures of my own school days, vivid and clear.
Why is it, I wonder, that the sense of smell can trigger memories so much easier, and with greater clarity than any of the others??
Anyone else have instances of smell/memory??
Mat
By MATT MOORE, Associated Press Writer
STOCKHOLM, Sweden - American researchers Richard Axel and Linda B. Buck shared the 2004 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine on Monday for their work on the sense of smell - showing how, for example, a person can smell a lilac in the spring and recall it in the winter.
They discovered genes that give rise to a huge variety of "receptor" proteins that sense particular odors. These proteins are found in cells in the nose, which communicate with the brain.
Axel, 58, of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Columbia University in New York, shared the prize with Buck, 57, of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle.
They reported the gene discoveries jointly in 1991 and have since worked independently shedding further light on the olfactory system.
The Nobel assembly said the sense of smell "helps us detect the qualities we regard as positive. A good wine or a sun ripe wild strawberry activates a whole array of odorant receptors."
------------------------------------
Academy members tell The Associated Press that the decision to give the pair the award was not in light of any medical or commercial payoffs, but rather to honor their exploration of one of the humanity's most profound senses.
Axel and Buck clarified the intricate biological pathway from the nose to the brain that lets people sense smells. A whiff of an odor brings a mix of different molecules into the nose, where each molecule activates several odor receptors. This pattern of activation is interpreted by the brain, letting people recognize and form memories of about 10,000 different odors, the Nobel Assembly said.
Axel and Buck studied mice, which have about 1,000 odor receptor types. People have somewhat fewer.
----------------------------------
Nothing special, I just found this research topic fascinating. I have always been intrigued by the way that aromas can instantly trigger memories.......sometimes an incident, sometimes a place, sometimes a person (no more details than that).
For example, I am constantly amazed, any time I enter a school, any school, and breathe in the scent of the place, my head immediately brings up pictures of my own school days, vivid and clear.
Why is it, I wonder, that the sense of smell can trigger memories so much easier, and with greater clarity than any of the others??
Anyone else have instances of smell/memory??
Mat
)
