How smell gets recognized so fast: Mouse brains appear to decide in the first 50 milliseconds

MedicalXpress | 四月 14, 2026

Mice make use of rapid nerve cell interactions in the brain's smell center to distinguish one odor from another, a new study shows. Both mice and humans can rapidly identify odors, researchers say, in a small fraction of a second. Led by researchers at NYU Langone Health, the study shows that the key steps involved in identifying smells happen in the mouse olfactory bulb, a part of the brain located behind the nose. The function was previously thought to occur in the cerebral cortex, a larger part of the brain known for its role in perception, awareness, and thought.