PHD THESIS DANISH MEDICAL JOURNAL Testing olfactory function and mapping the structural olfactory networks in the brain Alexander Fjældstad to memory and limbic pathways, babies are from birth using their sense of smell to recognise their mother and are comforted by the flavour of her breast milk [6]. When choosing partners, body This review has been accepted as a thesis together with four previously published odour has an impact on attractiveness and the desire to procreate, papers by Aarhus University the 31st of October 2016 and defended on the 10th of February 2017. which is driven by an olfactory registration of optimal genetic compatibility [7,8]. Furthermore, olfaction is a potent trigger of Tutors: Morten Kringelbach, Arne Møller, Thomas Kjærgaard, and Therese Ovesen. pleasure [9,10], emotions, and memory [11], and in this way guid- ing through many aspects of life. Yet, little attention is given to the Official opponents: Thomas Hummel and Raymond Chan. impact of olfaction. Correspondence: Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Palle Juul- Jensens Boulevard 82, 8200 Aarhus N, Denmark. 1.2 FROM CHEMISTRY THROUGH SENSATION TO ACTIVATION OF E-mail:
[email protected] THE PRIMARY OLFACTORY CORTEX While other senses have a clearly defined spectrum of sound fre- quencies or wavelengths of light, the chemical senses – and espe- cially olfaction – have proved difficult to quantify. Since ancient Dan Med J 2018;65(1):B5432 times, there have been attempts to classify odours. One of the first THE 4 ORIGINAL PAPERS ARE descriptions of odour classification dates back to Theophrastus 1. Fjaeldstad A, Kjærgaard T, Van Hartevelt TJ, Møller A, Kringelbach (371-287 BC), a student of Aristotle, who wrote: “Odours in gen- ML, Ovesen T.