One could imagine a receiver for coffee, another for rose and a third for toast. The olfactory system is not organized as a small catalog where each smell would necessarily have its exclusive box. An odorous molecule can stimulate several types of receptors.
The NIDCD explains that these combinations produce different activation patterns. The number of possible odors thus exceeds the number of types of receptors. Research is looking to more precisely associate molecules with the receptors they activate, to understand how this coding works.
Fixing a definitive number of odors that all humans could distinguish would be another matter, depending on the tests and their interpretation. The mechanism is already elegant: with limited elements, the system produces many combinations. Wealth doesn’t just come from the length of the list; it comes from the way you associate the elements.
What we know
Combinatorial coding; no controversial number of distinguishable odors is presented as a universal ability.
To go to the source
References consulted on September 21, 2026. Linked pages may be in another language.
Signaler une erreur ou apporter une précision
