Smell is a crucial sense for survival. Many animals rely on it to find food, mates, or avoid predators. Unlike vision or hearing, however, odour signals in the natural world are highly dynamic. They are carried by turbulent air and arrive in complex “plumes” that change rapidly over space and time. Understanding how the brain extracts useful information from these fluctuating odour signals is one of the biggest open questions in sensory neuroscience.
The ERC project TempCOdE (Temporally Complex Odour Encoding) aims to reveal how mammals perceive and use these complex odour patterns. Specifically, the project investigates:
1. How temporally complex odours are represented in different parts of the brain.
2. Which cellular and circuit mechanisms in the olfactory bulb shape the processing of such odours.
3. How animals use this information during navigation and decision making.
By combining modern neuroscience tools — including high-resolution brain imaging, multi-site neural recordings, precisely controlled odour stimulation, and advanced behavioural tracking — the project seeks to uncover the principles by which the brain converts fleeting chemical cues into stable perceptions and behaviours.
Expected impact
The findings from TempCOdE are expected to create a new dimension in our understanding of smell. They will clarify how mammals, including humans, can locate odour sources in a dynamic environment. For example, how a mouse finds hidden food or how a person detects smoke from a fire.
Beyond fundamental neuroscience, this research may also contribute to new technologies in artificial sensing and robotics, where odour-guided navigation is of growing interest. Moreover, as smell is often impaired early in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s, a better understanding of how odours are processed in the healthy brain could support the development of olfactory tests as early biomarkers for disease.
