Humans can distinguish over one trillion different scents with only four hundred receptors
Humans can distinguish more than one trillion different odors by using a complex combinatorial code from only four hundred distinct scent receptors.
While humans have only 400 functional olfactory receptor genes—far fewer than the 1,000 found in dogs—the brain uses 'pattern recognition' to interpret smells. Each scent molecule activates a specific combination of receptors, which then project to two specific glomeruli in the olfactory bulb.
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