Overview Research return to list of focus groups
The goal of the Chemosensory Neuroscience Focus Group (CNFG) is to provide training and foster research in the chemical senses in order to understand their neurobiology and the roles they play in the function of the entire organism. The last decade has seen a spectacular growth in chemosensory research.
The chemical senses taste and smell are crucial players in enabling an individual to
detect, characterize and interact with chemical cues in the environment. Taste is involved in the evaluation of soluble components that are present in food and drink and thus plays a key role in the determination of the palatability of food and in nutrition, especially mineral and energy balance. Olfaction, or the sense of smell, is critical for monitoring the presence of volatile compounds and is important for evaluating the safety of the environment, for interpersonal interactions, and for ingestive decisions. Taste and smell offer opportunities to study different modes of sensory transduction: how chemical information is converted to neural information. Both of these neural systems possess sensory cells that are in contact with the environment and that are continuously replaced during life. Therefore, these systems are powerful models for the study of stem cells, regeneration, plasticity, and development in the nervous system. The regenerative properties of these neurons render them particularly promising as potential sources for neuronal transplantation to ameliorate degenerative diseases. Within the central nervous system, the olfactory bulb and piriform cortex are attractive as model systems for the study of cortical organization and function and for investigation of the neural basis of learning and memory.