The olfactory nerves are located in the middle part of the nose. They are responsible for our ability to smell various smells, that is, for our sense of smell. The air we breathe in irritates the endings of these nerves. If it has any smell, let's say the smell of roses, we will immediately smell it. The olfactory nerves are extremely sensitive. The olfactory nerves are located in the middle part of the nose. They are responsible for our ability to smell various smells, that is, for our sense of smell. The air we breathe in irritates the endings of these nerves. If it has any smell, let's say the smell of roses, we will immediately smell it. The olfactory nerves are extremely sensitive.

They are able to distinguish thousands of a wide variety of odors, and a special signal is transmitted to the brain about each individual odor. The olfactory nerves are almost never wrong. For example, they will never transmit a signal about the smell of a lily or any other flowers if the air smells of roses. Just think how many different smells you know. In a second, you can easily recognize the smell of food cooked in the kitchen without even going there.

You can smell perfume if your mom wears it even when she's not around you. And, of course, you can instantly identify the many smells coming from the street: the smell of freshly cut grass, fresh flowers, scorched leaves, and thousands of others. How wonderful it is! But most animals smell even better than humans. Cats, dogs, and horses have such a highly developed sense of smell that they usually recognize the smell of a familiar person long before they approach.

If you are outside and the wind is blowing in the right direction, any animal can smell your approach from a block away. It has already been said that each person's body smells differently. It really is. Moreover, the smell of a clean body can be very pleasant for both children and adults. An unpleasant smell appears only if a person rarely bathes or wears dirty clothes. During a severe cold, we almost cease to smell.

This happens because the mucous membranes in the nose swell, rupture, and become clogged with mucus. As a result, the smells in the air cease to excite the olfactory nerves. You can check for yourself what happens if you do not breathe through your nose. First, smell something pleasant - for this, deep through your nose. Then pinch your nose and inhale deeply through your mouth. Whatever smell you smelled before, now you will hardly feel it. This is what happens during a runny nose when you have a stuffy nose.

The sense of smell is closely related to the ability to taste. When you have a runny nose, you will immediately understand how difficult it is to taste food without smelling it at the same time. This can be easily checked without a runny nose. Ask someone to blindfold you, then pinch your nose or plug it for a few minutes with small pieces of cotton. Now ask them to give you a taste of some food that you are familiar with. This time, her taste will not seem so familiar to you. Or maybe you don't recognize him at all.

How do we hear.

Sound is transmitted by sound waves, much like the waves we see on water. Sound waves can be large and strong, like in a stormy sea. Or weak and small, as during a lull. When an airplane flies right over our head, the sound waves are very strong and we hear a loud sound.

And if someone whispers softly, the sound waves are too weak. Sound waves can travel through air, through water, and even through solid objects such as doors and walls. For example, you hear through closed door the way your parents are talking in the next room. This means that you pick up the sound waves passing through the door. And when your friend calls you from the street, inviting you to go out to play, sound waves penetrate, apparently through the walls of the house.

We begin to hear at the moment when sound waves reach the ear and begin to put pressure on the eardrum, causing it to vibrate, that is, move quickly back and forth. This is how jelly trembles if you shake the plate in which it lies. The eardrum vibrates three small bones behind it. These bones transmit sound vibrations to the inner ear filled with a special fluid. The fluid, in turn, transmits the vibration to the auditory nerve.

The auditory nerve receives the signal from the inner ear and sends and sends it to the brain. In a fraction of a second, the brain translates the received sound signal, and you say to yourself: “I hear my mother’s voice,” or “This is a crying baby.” What a wonderful ear we have! After all, it all happens in a matter of moments! One has only to speak to someone, sound waves are formed. Your ear immediately picks up these sound waves, transmits the sound vibrations to the eardrum, then to three small bones, then to the fluid of the inner ear, then to the auditory nerve, and. finally sends a signal to the brain.

In order to hear better, you need to follow certain rules:

Never put anything in your ear or someone else's. You can damage the eardrum, and this will impair hearing. However, do not worry if something accidentally gets into the ear or, for example, some insect flies in: the doctor will take it out without difficulty.

If you feel pain in your ear, be sure to tell an adult about it. You may need to take medicine to get rid of the pain.

If you suddenly become hard of hearing, be sure to tell an adult about it. Perhaps you need to clean your ears of wax. And if an infection has got there, it must be eliminated with the help of special medicines.

Never shout in anyone's ear. Be aware that strong sound waves can damage your hearing.

Learn to turn on the TV or radio at a low volume. People who work in noisy places have been found to have hearing impairment.

Be sure to watch who you are talking to. You will hear your interlocutor better if you look at him. Then neither you nor he will have to speak too loudly.

If you are reading a book or a magazine, do not listen to the radio or watch TV during this time. It is necessary to concentrate your attention on reading in order to understand what is written in the book. If you want to listen to a radio broadcast or watch a television program, concentrate your attention on them. You can't do two things well at the same time.

IP Pavlov believed that the problem of smell and smell is one of the most difficult in physiology and general biology. A person perceives smells through the nose. It is able to perceive and recognize 4,000 different odors, and a very sensitive nose - up to 10,000, moreover, special signals are transmitted to the brain about each individual odor. The olfactory nerves are almost never wrong. They will not transmit a lily signal when the air smells like a rose. Animals can smell even better than humans. Cats, dogs and horses have such a highly developed sense of smell that, with a fair wind, they distinguish the smell of a person they know from a whole block away. In wild animals, the sense of smell is developed and even stronger. The numerical value of the sensitivity of the nose to odorous substances is simply incredible. For example, an ordinary person feels vanillin at a concentration of 1 gram in 10 million cubic meters of air.

Aromas from the air enter the nasal cavity up to the olfactory cells (about 30 million neurons). There are receptors on the surface of these ciliary cells. An impulse in the cell occurs when 8-10 molecules of an aromatic substance hit the cilia receptors. The sensation of smell occurs if at least 40 neurons fire at the same time. Even to perform such a seemingly simple task: how we smell, more than 6 million neurons are involved, each of which receives, perhaps, 10,000 contacts of its comrades. The odor signal travels through special cells directly to the hypothalamus of the brain. This is very important because this miniature organ regulates dozens of bodily functions such as temperature, thirst, hunger, blood sugar, sleep, sexual arousal, and emotions such as anger and joy. At the same time, the smell signal is sent to an area called the Hippocampus, the part of the brain that is responsible for memory and attention. For this reason, smells evoke the most memories in us. The world of smells surrounds us everywhere and continuously. Dozens of irritants penetrate the human nasal cavity every minute. However, only some of them we distinguish consciously. Most of the reactions to the surrounding smells are subconscious.

A person perceives only five basic odors- mint, camphor, floral, ethereal, musky. All the rest are obtained by mixing the main ones.

Conscious reactions to smell- this is when the brain processes a numerous stream of information signals (highlighting the most vital ones), sends a return signal to which a person reacts (the smell of food or gas).

The mystery of the smell has not been completely solved, because scientists have paid insufficient attention to this. One of the most interesting features of smell is the ability of this non-directional sensation to evoke a directional response. Animals with a pair of ears can determine the direction of a sound very accurately. Even with the help of one ear, the animal can determine from which side the sound is louder. Hearing is directional, like sight, but smell, like the sense of taste, has no direction.

There have been over 30 theories of smell. The greatest discussion was caused by the question whether the aromatic substance molecule should come into contact with receptogenams, or whether it emits waves that irritate the receptors.

Yeimur's (key-lock) theory explains smell as follows:“If the molecule is round, then the corresponding nerve receptor has a concavity into which the molecule enters.” However, Boston University neuroscientist John Cauera found that the theory was flawed. In an experiment using a tomograph, Cauer found that three closely related chemicals - esters of acetic acid, propyl acetate and amyl acetate, whose molecules have a similar shape, cause different brain cell activity.

Recently, a young British biophysicist, Luca Turne, put forward a very different concept of the mechanism of smell perception. According to this concept, smell, since color or sound, is determined by the frequency of vibrations, and the olfactory organ is like a device that is able to register these frequencies. Turne proved that different substances with different frequencies of interatomic vibrations have a similar smell. For the experiment, hydrogen sulfide and boletus were taken with an oscillation frequency of 2500 Hz. It turned out that boletus also smell of hydrogen sulfide, despite the fact that their molecules have a different shape.

A new page in the theory of smells, perhaps, will be written by the American microbiologist Linda Buck. she was able to identify genes in the human chromosome set that are responsible for olfactory receptors.

Date of: 09.10.2014

Time: 8:35-9:20

Class: 4 "B" (room 23)

Performed: Ziller Kristina Vladimirovna

The plan is a summary of a trial-test lesson on the world around.

Subject: Smell. How we smell. Take care of your sense of smell

Target: to acquaint students with the organs of smell, their meaning and hygiene; to expand students' knowledge about caring for the organs of smell; learn to respect the senses.

Planned results

Subject:

To characterize the functions of the sense organs as sources of information about the surrounding world;

Tell about the structure of the sense organs, using drawings and diagrams;

Observe the hygiene of the sense organs.

Personal:

Show the ability for self-assessment based on the criterion of success of educational activities;

Take responsibility for your own health.

Metasubject:

Communicative:

Initiative cooperation - to be active in interaction to solve communicative and cognitive tasks;

– coordinate and take different positions in interaction.

Regulatory:

Plan your actions in accordance with the task;

Make the necessary adjustments to the action after its completion, based on its assessment and taking into account the nature of the errors made.

Cognitive:

Use various ways processing, analysis and presentation of information;

Group, classify items, objects based on essential features, according to specified criteria;

Develop observation, the ability to compare and draw conclusions;

Build a monologue speech orally.

Lesson type: discovery of new knowledge.

Work form: frontal.

Working methods: partially - search, conversation.

Information technology resources: blindfold; objects, products that have different smells; textbook, workbook.

Basic concepts: hearing, smell.

During the classes

I. Organizational moment.

II. Repetition of what was previously learned.

1. Weather analysis.

2. Introductory conversation-repetition on the questions:

– What is the organ of hearing?

– What is the importance of ears?

– How should you take care of your ears?

– Why is it harmful to listen to loud music and constantly use headphones?

III. Learning new material and consolidation.

1. Introduction to the topic of the lesson.

Teacher. Guess the riddle - and find out which organ will be discussed at the lesson.

Between two lights

I am alone in the middle. (Nose.)

2. Creation of a problem situation.

2-3 students come to the board. The teacher blindfolds them. Everyone is given some harmless, smelly items, such as onions, perfumes, dark bread, etc.

– Determine what is in your hands.

Students name things.

– How did you determine this, because you could not see and hear?

– What organ do we smell?

Student responses.

Physical education minute

Teacher. Humans have many associations with odors. Imagine that you are in a spring garden. What do you feel?

– Breathe deeply, well, fully. Feel the aroma of flowering cherries, apple trees, lilacs. Convey your feelings through facial expressions.

And now, at my request, show me the smell of wormwood, sour milk, how lily of the valley smells, ammonia.

Remember that objects, household chemicals should not be brought close to the olfactory organs, this is dangerous.

3. Work on the topic of the lesson.

Teacher. The nose is the organ of smell.

Smell is the human ability to smell. The sense of smell helps us to detect stale food, harmful smells in the room.

Currently, scientists have more than 400 thousand smells that a person can perceive. Human sensitivity to smell is quite high. So, the smell of ether is felt if 1 liter of air contains only 0.000001 g of this substance. A person is able to smell not all substances, but only volatile or dissolved in water and fats.

During a runny nose, a person almost does not distinguish odors. Frequent runny nose dulls the sense of smell. As you can see, colds are harmful not only to the throat and lungs, but also to such an important sense organ as the nose. Therefore, you need to protect yourself from colds, temper your body. Tobacco smoke, various sharp, poisonous odors greatly dull the sense of smell. If a foreign object gets into the nose, you should consult a doctor.

Micro fastening:

How many smells do scientists count?

Smell, what substances can a person smell?

What odors dull a person's sense of smell?

4. Work on the textbook.

– Explain using the picture on p. 41 textbook how we smell.

– Read the rules on p. 42 tutorials you must follow to keep your sense of smell from being damaged.

1). It is necessary to temper, protect the body from colds.

2). Do not smoke, as the sense of smell is impaired in people who smoke.

– Do any of you have pets at home? Have you noticed how they react to smells? Tell about it.

IV. Consolidation on the topic of the lesson and independent work.

1. Completion of task 43 in workbook No. 1 on p. 16.

2. Teacher. The sense of smell increases information about the surrounding world. The sense of smell is most acute in summer and spring, especially in warm and humid weather. In the light, the sense of smell is sharper than in the dark.

If a person loses his sense of smell, then food loses its taste for him, and such people are more likely to get poisoned, because they cannot identify low-quality food.

– Smell is…

VI. Reflection.

In class, I learned...

In class, I was wondering...

In class, I couldn't...

VII. Homework.

VII. Lesson ball.

Smell is a property of any substance. In the air, various odors spread through a phenomenon called diffusion (similar to the spreading, mixing of one liquid into another). A person's sense of smell is directly related to the particles of substances that emit these smells.

A person can perceive up to 400 thousand different smells. Smells are not classified, but are called by the name of the substance that emits them (for example: “smell of perfume”, “smell of flowers”, “smell of food”, etc.).

Substances that have an odor tend to be absorbed. This explains the fact that often our clothes are impregnated with different kind odors (perfume, smoke, food, etc.).

The sense of smell helps a person to protect himself from various impurities in the air when he inhales it, to determine the quality of the air he breathes.

A person smells only when he inhales. This is easy to check. If you bring an object, a source of smell, to your nose and hold your breath, you will not smell it.

The olfactory organ is located in the uppermost part of the nasal cavity and its surface area, in almost every person, does not exceed 5 square centimeters. If you want to feel a particular smell well, then take several short, but sharp breaths in a row. This is due to the fact that with such breaths, the air with vortex movements reaches the olfactory organ well and the smell that it carries in itself is felt quite strongly.

As you can see, the sense of smell in a person's life plays a very important role, and sometimes it can play a decisive role.

Why does my body smell like fish? Sweating is a natural process that performs important life-support functions of the body:

• regulation of body temperature;
• elimination of toxic substances;
• skin cleansing.

The smell of sweat is specific for each person, however, subject to hygiene standards, it is quite natural and does not cause discomfort. Unpleasant odors can appear in the case of taking certain medications as a result of the disease. This is due to the excretory function of the skin, which through the pores, together with the liquid base, removes some waste products that have a specific smell.

Causes of Bad Smell

Changes in body odor can be caused by natural causes such as:

• excess weight;
• eating too spicy and spicy food;

• high levels of sex hormones in the body;
• wearing clothes and shoes made of synthetic fabrics;
• representatives of some nationalities and races may have a specific smell;
• in women during menstruation, the smell may change;
• in adolescents during puberty.

These moments are easily corrected, or they will need to be taken into account in Everyday life. It is much more important to pay attention to the smell of sweat, indicating a disease.

So, a change in "aroma" can occur due to the development of:

• tuberculosis;
• diabetes;
• diseases of the digestive system;
• heart problems;
• kidney disease;
• hormonal abnormalities;
• oncological diseases.

The odor that appears may have different impurities:

• acetone;
• ripe apples;
• ammonia;
• fish;
• very sour;
• rotten eggs;
• pear;

• cat urine;
• bitter;
• fresh bread and others.

Why does the fishy smell occur?

Before you start solving a delicate problem, you need to determine why the sweat smells, and then take appropriate measures.

The appearance of the smell of fish from the body, while observing the usual hygiene requirements, does not always indicate the active use of seafood or vitamins and dietary supplements by a person containing a variety of vitamin B - choline, much more often it signals a malfunction internal organs.

One of the reasons may be a violation of the liver, as a result of which a person has a lack of choline. Sweat smells like fish hereditary disease metabolism - trimethylaminuria, in which the patient's body does not absorb trimethylamine, which comes with food rich in choline (eggs, liver, soy, beef, and others). This substance is excreted from the body in large quantities along with urine and sweat, even the breath of people suffering from this disease has a specific “fish spirit”.

In women, pathology is much less common than in men, but it is actively formed in them during puberty, causing difficulties in communication and problems with the opposite sex.

The reason for the development of the disease is a defect in the FMO3 gene, which controls the process of converting digestion products into odorless substances. In the absence of this gene, the liver is unable to break down trimethylamine N-oxide, which causes a fishy smell. As a result, this substance is excreted with the products of human vital activity: sweat, urine, exhaled air.

Moreover, the carriers of the disease themselves bad smell emanating from them, do not feel. At the same time, they have a problem with communication and work in a team, because the people around them think that they stink, often such patients are forced to work at home.

When the smell of fish from the body is accompanied by pain in the abdominal cavity or genitals, discomfort during defecation or urination, the appearance of blood in the waste products, it indicates the presence of diseases of the digestive system: chronic constipation, diarrhea, urinary incontinence.

Any of these diseases is quite dangerous and can cause serious consequences, therefore, if such signs appear, you should consult a doctor. First of all, you need to go to a gastroenterologist, who can prescribe an additional consultation with the following specialists:

• endocrinologist;
• gynecologist;
• proctologist;
• urologist.

If an unpleasant odor appears in the urine, you should visit a therapist who will prescribe clinical tests:

• examination of blood and urine;
• taking smears from the vagina and urethra;
• bacteriological culture of urine;
• biochemical blood test;
• detection of infectious agents using polymerase chain reaction;
• other analyses.

Held:

• Ultrasound of the pelvic organs, kidneys, pelvis, ureter, urethra and bladder;
• cystography;
• x-ray in the pelvis and in the kidney area.

Eliminate bad odor

If the causes of the problem are related to malnutrition or non-compliance with certain hygiene rules, then this is easily solved. It is enough to review the diet, wardrobe and daily routine. From the menu, you should exclude or reduce the amount of high-protein foods consumed:

• beans and all legumes;
• eggs;
• liver;
• seafood;
• dairy products;
• meat.

Properly selected clothing can help to get rid of discomfort, which should be made of natural fabrics that allow the skin to breathe, of the appropriate size and comfortable to wear.

Shower regularly, especially after sports activities, while it is not necessary to use soap every time, sometimes it is enough to wash sweat off the body. Many experts advise giving preference to natural-based cosmetics that are less aggressive towards the natural microflora of a person. It is necessary to be careful about visiting beaches and tanning salons, which can cause damage to the upper layers of the skin.

At the same time, regular exercise and sauna visits allow you to remove excess metabolic products, cleansing the pores of the skin, as a result of which the sweat becomes less "odorous", but do not forget about the sense of proportion.

One of the tested folk ways –taking baths with a decoction of oak bark, wormwood, sea salt or a solution of potassium permanganate.

An important point is the removal of hair on the body, including in the armpits and inguinal region, since sweat usually accumulates on the hair, which then begins to smell.

If diseases of the digestive system are the cause of the smell of fish, then it is necessary to focus on their treatment, and only then on additional measures.

At the same time, for people suffering from trimethylaminuria, the prognosis is unfavorable. Medicines for this disease No, so it's impossible to fix it. The patient can improve the situation a little with the help of a diet, temporary antibiotics, avoidance of situations that cause sweating.

As an aid, it is recommended to use soap with a pH of about 5.5. Inside you can use activated charcoal and copper preparations. Naturally, carefully monitor hygiene, regularly change clothes and epilate the body, which will somewhat reduce the unpleasant odor.

Use of deodorants in this case an additional, but not very effective measure, since the drug does not eliminate the cause itself, but only temporarily masks the smell.

The sense of smell is one of the senses that a person needs for a fulfilling life. And its violations impose tangible restrictions on the emotional state and become real problem. Among the disorders of smell, there are also those when the patient is haunted by a smell that is not really there. Everyone is interested in the question of the origin of unpleasant symptoms, but only a doctor will help determine the source of disorders in the body.

The smell is perceived through the reaction of olfactory receptors located in the mucous membrane of the nasal cavity to certain aromatic molecules. But this is only the initial section of the corresponding analyzer. Further, the nerve impulse is transmitted to the areas of the brain responsible for the analysis of sensations (temporal lobes). And when a person smells that are not there, this clearly indicates some kind of pathology.

First of all, all the reasons should be divided into two groups. The smell may be quite real, but not felt by others until the patient speaks to them at close range. This is likely in the following situations, covering the practice of ENT doctors and dentists:

• Fetid coryza (ozena).
• Sinusitis (sinusitis, frontal sinusitis).
• Chronic tonsillitis.
• Caries, pulpitis, periodontitis.

These diseases are accompanied by the formation of pus, which gives an unpleasant odor. A similar situation may appear in those who suffer from diseases of the gastrointestinal tract (gastritis, peptic ulcer, cholecystitis and pancreatitis). Food that has entered the digestive tract is processed worse, and during belching or reflux, unpleasant odor molecules come out. A similar problem may not be noticeable to others if they do not come close.

Some people have a lower threshold for olfactory perception. They smell better than others, so sometimes they encounter misunderstandings from others. Some fragrance may be too faint to be smelled by anyone else. And this feature should also be taken into account by the doctor.

A separate group of reasons are those that are associated with the defeat of any of the departments of the olfactory analyzer. The odors that have appeared are not conveyed to others, since their formation, transmission and analysis in a particular person are disturbed. And although some other (quite real) one can serve as the basis for an unpleasant aroma, the end result is present only in the mind of the patient and is a problem for him.

There are quite a lot of conditions that manifest as a violation of the sense of smell (dysosmia or parosmia). They include both respiratory pathology with inflammation of the nasal mucosa, for example, rhinitis or SARS, and other disorders in the body:

• Hormonal changes (during pregnancy, during menstruation or menopause).
• Bad habits (smoking, alcohol abuse, drugs).
• Taking certain medications and poisoning with chemicals.
• Endocrine disorders (hypothyroidism, diabetes mellitus).
• Systemic diseases (scleroderma).
• Traumatic brain injury.
• Tumors of the brain.
• Neurosis or depression.
• Psychoses (schizophrenia).
• Epilepsy.

It is necessary to remember about the so-called phantom smells associated with some kind of stress in the past and left a strong impression. In similar situations, they can come to the surface. As you can see, the source of an unpleasant odor can be hidden among a large number of diseases. And some can be quite serious. But do not immediately get scared and look for a dangerous pathology in yourself - the causes of the violations will become clear only after a thorough examination.

Why people perceive certain smells is a rather serious question and requires further research.

Symptoms

Any pathology has certain signs. To identify them, the doctor evaluates the patient's complaints, analyzes the factors that precede the appearance of an unpleasant odor, and conducts a physical examination. It should be understood when an extraneous aroma is felt, is constantly present or occurs periodically, how intense it is, what contributes to its disappearance, and what additional symptoms are present in clinical picture. Sometimes only this allows you to establish the cause of dysosmia, but not always.

The aroma that haunts the patient may have a different color. Those who drink citrus tea often smell a burning smell, and hot spices can cause a feeling of the presence of sulfur in them. Along with the distortion of smell, taste also changes, since they are closely related. A severe runny nose, for example, can cause the illusion that the onion has become sweet and smells like an apple.

ENT pathology

The first thing to think about when complaining of an unpleasant smell is diseases of the upper respiratory tract. When the nasal mucosa is damaged, the sense of smell is invariably disturbed, but the patient may not always feel how it stinks of pus or rot. Most often, a similar symptom occurs with sinusitis, chronic tonsillitis or ozen. In the latter case, the smell is so pronounced that others notice it. But besides this, you need to pay attention to other symptoms:

• Violation of nasal breathing.
• Discharge from the nose (mucopurulent or purulent).
• Heaviness in the projection of the paranasal sinuses.
• Dryness of the mucosa and the formation of crusts.
• Pain in the throat when swallowing.
• Plugs on the tonsils.

If we are talking about acute sinusitis, then the purulent process in the sinuses invariably entails fever and intoxication with headaches, but the chronic one gives less pronounced symptoms. With tonsillitis, disorders of the kidneys, heart, and joints are often detected (the result of sensitization to streptococcus antigens). If the sense of smell is impaired due to ARVI, then in the clinical picture, in addition to a runny nose, there will be other catarrhal symptoms against the background of intoxication, for example, redness of the throat and lacrimation.

The pathology of the nose, paranasal sinuses and pharynx is the main cause of the appearance of an extraneous odor, which can only be imagined by others through close contact with the patient.

Diseases of the digestive tract

An unpleasant odor can also haunt those who suffer from diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. Violation of food digestion is the main mechanism of such a symptom. Smell rotten eggs worries with hypoacid gastritis (with reduced acidity) or peptic ulcer duodenum, he does not seem to constantly, but after eating. In the clinical picture, there are other signs of dyspeptic syndrome:

• Belching.
• Nausea.
• Bloating.
• Chair change.

Many feel discomfort in the stomach or pain in the epigastrium. And the concomitant gastroesophageal reflux causes heartburn and further esophagitis. If the gallbladder is affected, then an additional symptom will be a feeling of bitterness in the mouth.

Psychoneurological problems

Many patients with psychoneurological status disorders perceive a smell that is not actually there. It can have both a real prototype (illusion) and be based on non-existent connections (hallucination). The first situation may also arise healthy person who has undergone severe emotional stress, but often becomes a constant companion of those who suffer from neurosis or depression. Additional symptoms of pathology are:

• Decreased mood.
• emotional lability.
• Irritability and anxiety.
• Sensation of a "coma" in the throat.
• Sleep disorders.

Characteristic signs will also be somatic functional disorders arising from an imbalance of nervous regulation (increased heart rate, increased sweating, nausea, shortness of breath, etc.). Unlike neurotic reactions, psychoses are accompanied by profound changes in the personal sphere. Then there are various hallucinations (auditory, visual, olfactory), overvalued and delusional ideas, when the perception of the surrounding world and behavior are disturbed, there is no critical understanding of what is happening.

The feeling that it suddenly began to smell like rotten meat can occur with epilepsy. Olfactory and gustatory hallucinations are a kind of "aura" that precedes a convulsive attack. This indicates the location of the focus of pathological activity in the cortex of the temporal lobe. After a few seconds or minutes, the patient develops a typical seizure with tonic-clonic convulsions, short-term loss of consciousness, biting of the tongue. A similar picture also occurs with a brain tumor of the corresponding localization or trauma to the skull.

Neuropsychiatric disorders, as the cause of a foreign smell, are perhaps the most serious situation that cannot be missed.

Additional diagnostics

Smells that others do not feel are an occasion for a detailed examination. It is possible to find out the cause of what is happening only on the basis of complex diagnostics using a laboratory-instrumental complex. Based on the doctor's assumption based on the clinical picture, the patient is recommended to undergo additional procedures:

• General analysis of blood and urine.
• Blood biochemistry (inflammatory markers, liver tests, electrolytes, glucose, hormonal spectrum).
• Nose and throat swab (cytology, culture, PCR).
• Rhinoscopy.
• X-ray of the paranasal sinuses.
• Computed tomography of the head.
• echoencephalography.
• Fibrogastroscopy.
• Ultrasound of the abdominal organs.

To get the maximum diagnostic value, the examination program is formed on an individual basis. If necessary, the patient is consulted not only by an ENT doctor, but also by other specialists: a gastroenterologist, a neurologist, an endocrinologist, a psychotherapist. And the results obtained make it possible to establish the final cause of the violations and remove the unpleasant odor that seemed to the patients.

IP Pavlov believed that the problem of smell and smell is one of the most difficult in physiology and general biology. A person perceives smells through the nose. It is able to perceive and recognize 4,000 different odors, and a very sensitive nose - up to 10,000, moreover, special signals are transmitted to the brain about each individual odor. The olfactory nerves are almost never wrong. They will not transmit a lily signal when the air smells like a rose. Animals can smell even better than humans. Cats, dogs and horses have such a highly developed sense of smell that, with a fair wind, they distinguish the smell of a person they know from a whole block away. In wild animals, the sense of smell is developed and even stronger. The numerical value of the sensitivity of the nose to odorous substances is simply incredible. For example, an ordinary person feels vanillin at a concentration of 1 gram in 10 million cubic meters of air.

Aromas from the air enter the nasal cavity up to the olfactory cells (about 30 million neurons). There are receptors on the surface of these ciliary cells. An impulse in the cell occurs when 8-10 molecules of an aromatic substance hit the cilia receptors. The sensation of smell occurs if at least 40 neurons fire at the same time. Even to perform such a seemingly simple task: how we smell, more than 6 million neurons are involved, each of which receives, perhaps, 10,000 contacts of its comrades. The odor signal travels through special cells directly to the hypothalamus of the brain. This is very important because this miniature organ regulates dozens of bodily functions such as temperature, thirst, hunger, blood sugar, sleep, sexual arousal, and emotions such as anger and joy. At the same time, the smell signal enters an area called the Hippocampus, the part of the brain that is responsible for memory and attention. For this reason, smells evoke the most memories in us. The world of smells surrounds us everywhere and continuously. Dozens of irritants penetrate the human nasal cavity every minute. However, only some of them we distinguish consciously. Most of the reactions to the surrounding smells are subconscious.

A person perceives only five basic odors- mint, camphor, floral, ethereal, musky. All the rest are obtained by mixing the main ones.

Conscious reactions to smell- this is when the brain processes a numerous stream of information signals (highlighting the most vital ones), sends a return signal to which a person reacts (the smell of food or gas).

The mystery of the smell has not been completely solved, because scientists have paid insufficient attention to this. One of the most interesting features of smell is the ability of this non-directional sensation to evoke a directional response. Animals with a pair of ears can determine the direction of a sound very accurately. Even with the help of one ear, the animal can determine from which side the sound is louder. Hearing is directional, like sight, but smell, like the sense of taste, has no direction.

There have been over 30 theories of smell. The greatest discussion was caused by the question whether the aromatic substance molecule should come into contact with receptogenams, or whether it emits waves that irritate the receptors.

Yeimur's (key-lock) theory explains smell as follows:“If the molecule is round, then the corresponding nerve receptor has a concavity into which the molecule enters.” However, Boston University neuroscientist John Cauera found that the theory was flawed. In an experiment using a tomograph, Cauer found that three closely related chemicals - esters of acetic acid, propyl acetate and amyl acetate, whose molecules have a similar shape, cause different brain cell activity.

Recently, a young British biophysicist, Luca Turne, put forward a very different concept of the mechanism of smell perception. According to this concept, smell, since color or sound, is determined by the frequency of vibrations, and the olfactory organ is like a device that is able to register these frequencies. Turne proved that different substances with different frequencies of interatomic vibrations have a similar smell. For the experiment, hydrogen sulfide and boletus were taken with an oscillation frequency of 2500 Hz. It turned out that boletus also smell of hydrogen sulfide, despite the fact that their molecules have a different shape.

A new page in the theory of smells, perhaps, will be written by the American microbiologist Linda Buck. she was able to identify genes in the human chromosome set that are responsible for olfactory receptors.

Let's discuss together. Why does the poet associate the words "I live" with the human senses?

Answer. Human life is an interaction with the environment, a constant exchange of substances with it. In order to live, a person needs to navigate in environment. And he does this with the help of the senses - sight, smell, hearing, touch, taste and others. Therefore, the poet described his feelings in this way.

Vision

Question. Let's look at various items. What are our visual impressions of them? What signs of objects did we see? Do we agree with the conclusion “The eyes are our “windows” to the world?”

Answer. I agree with this expression. Most We receive information from the outside world with the help of the organs of vision. We can determine the color of an object, its dimensions, distance to it, give a description. With the help of the organs of vision, we recognize objects, distinguish people, perceive written speech.

Hearing

Let's play. Let's close our eyes and try to determine which side (left, right, back, front, etc.) the sound is coming from. Do we agree with the conclusion: “Hearing helps us navigate the world around us?”

Answer. I agree with this statement. Thanks to sounds, we orient ourselves in the environment, we can communicate with each other, we hear the sounds of nature, music, we avoid danger.

Question. Explain why you need to follow these rules.

1. Try not to shout, move away from those places where there is a lot of noise and harsh sounds.

2. Do not turn on the tape recorder, radio, TV at high volume.

3. Don't put things in your ear.

4. Use a cotton swab to clean your ears.

Answer. All these are the rules of hearing hygiene. Loud speech, music causes a violation of the eardrum, auditory ossicles. In this case, the nerve endings get tired, which leads to a decrease in the auditory threshold. If you put various objects in your ear, you can damage the inner ear, the eardrum must be cleaned of earwax from the ears, but this should be done with soft objects.

Smell

Question. What is smell? What rules must be followed to preserve the sense of smell?

Answer. Sense of smell is the ability to perceive smells. There are a lot of smells. They can be recognized by special cells located in the nasal mucosa. We distinguish up to four thousand smells, but the dog is several times larger. From sensitive cells, information enters the brain, where it is analyzed.

Exercise. We smell various substances: perfume, garlic, horseradish, flower. Let's divide smells into two groups - pleasant and unpleasant.

Answer. Pleasant smells - perfumes, flowers; unpleasant odors - garlic, horseradish.

Let's discuss together. Smell something pleasant, like delicious food. To do this, take a deep breath through your nose. Now hold your nose and take a deep breath through your mouth. When do we smell? What sense organs "tell" us that the food we eat is not spoiled? Let's explain our answers.

Answer. We smell when we breathe through our nose. It is the organs of smell that primarily tell us that the food is not spoiled. Secondly, it will be the organs of taste.

Question. Get ready for the conversation. Think about how to answer the questions: “Why do we almost stop smelling when we have a cold? Why does a person never confuse the smell of fish and the smell of flowers?

If you have a cat or dog at home, observe how they react to smells. Talk about it in class.

Answer. During a runny nose, the nerve endings on the nasal mucosa are clogged. A cat and a dog, when they sniff something, expand their nostrils, inhale deeply, their breathing quickens.

Taste

Exercise. Put a piece of sugar on your tongue. Let's wait for it to melt. Wipe your tongue with a clean napkin and quickly run another piece of sugar over it. When did we get a taste? Let us analyze whether it is possible to draw the following conclusion: “Saliva helps to distinguish taste. Dry tongue does not taste.

Answer. Yes, we can draw such a conclusion. The sensitive endings on the tongue are only irritated when the food is wet. And saliva wets food.

Question. Consider the drawing. Read the captions. Using the words "left", "right", "front", "back", explain how the different parts of the tongue (taste zones) distinguish sour, sweet, salty, bitter tastes.

Explain how you understand the word "taster". What do you think, which sense organs are especially developed in people of this profession?

Answer. The back of the tongue detects a bitter taste. The left and right sides of the tongue distinguish between sour tastes. The left and right parts closer to the tip of the tongue distinguish between a salty taste. The "front" tip of the tongue detects a sweet taste. A taster is a person who is better than others in identifying different tastes and smells. These people have better developed organs of smell and taste than others.

Touch

1. Take a piece of ice in your hands, touch the glass with hot water, stroke the fur with the palm of your hand. What do we feel (touch)? Let's draw a conclusion by answering the question: “Does touch help to perceive the world?

2. Dip your hand in warm water. What do we feel. Will the feeling change in a few minutes. Let's analyze whether it is possible to draw the following conclusion: "The hand got used to the temperature and stopped feeling warm."

3. Let's play the game-exercise "define the object by touch." The student puts his hand into the bag, selects an object without looking and determines by touch what it is and what it is made of.

Let's compare our conclusions with the text.

Answer. 1. With the help of the organs of touch, we perceive the world- heat, cold, the surface of objects - soft, hard, smooth, rough. Signals from tactile cells go to the brain and a person, even with his eyes closed, is able to distinguish the size and shape of an object, respond to temperature changes, pull his hand away from a hot object or a piercing object.

2. First we feel heat, and then the brain stops responding to incoming signals. This is a defensive reaction of the brain. So he is protected from fatigue. And in everyday life they say, the hand is used to it.

3. A person identifies objects by touch. Experience helps with this. previous life. But if an unfamiliar object comes across, then a person will find it difficult to name what it is.