Influence of Drugs on Smell Function

Abstract

Until recently, a book on olfaction would have been unlikely to dedicate a Chapter exclusively to neurochemistry or pharmacology. Over the past decade, however, several seemingly disparate trends have conspired to end this neglect. First, neurochemists have localized a rieh variety of neuroactive substances in specific types of olfactory neurons (Halász and Shepherd 1983, Macrides and Davis 1983). The apparent chemical specificity of different cell types, particularly within the olfactory bulb and primary olfactory cortex, suggest that the olfactory system is functionally organized at a molecular or neurochemical level. Second, there has been significant progress towards understanding molecular aspects of olfactory transduction. Recent evidence suggests that there may be common molecular events involving G-proteins and cyclic nucleotide-gated ion channels that lead to neuronal depolarization following odorant activation of membrane-bound protein receptors (Lancet 1986, Snyder et al. 1988). Third, there has been a large increase in clinical olfactory research in humans, demonstrating a variety of drug effects on olfactory perception and describing olfactory deficits in a number of disease states associated with altered neurochemical activity. And fourth, there is increasing interest among physiological psychologists in the neurobiology and psychopharmacology of olfactory learning and memory.