Does something smell funny to you? Your brain contains a surprisingly rich “smelliverse” through which it interprets all the odors you encounter. Exploring this universe of smell could deepen our understanding of basic brain functions and even help in identifying diseases.
In the newest installment of our Cocktails & Chromosomes series, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) Professor Alexei Koulakov takes audiences on a guided tour of the smelliverse, starting with tiny particles known as odorants that add up to significant neural processes we experience as smells. Koulakov’s lab uses AI to not only decode the brain activity associated with smells but to translate different animals’ interpretations of them. The more we know about this underappreciated sense, the closer we can link certain smells to diseases such as cancer and Parkinson’s. Who “nose” … we may someday even be able to build biosensors that can sniff out these conditions early.
Press play to enter the smelliverse. And join us at Ninnet & George’s on October 30 for the next installment of Cocktails & Chromosomes. In case you didn’t see, earlier this month, three scientists took home the Nobel Prize for their work on the immune system. Later this month, CSHL Assistant Professor Peter Westcott will discuss some of his lab’s most fascinating research in this area.