A psychophysical study of the relationship between temporal processing in odor mixtures and transduction pathways.

Depending on the odorant, transduction during the olfactory reception process is reported to be mediated by the second messengers cyclic adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate (cAMP) or inositol 1,4,5-triphosphate (IP(3)). The present study with humans investigates the relationship between temporal processing in mixtures and the type of transduction process used. The most common outcomes were reciprocal temporal interactions which were primarily dependent on odorant concentration and independent of the type of transduction process. The results are consistent with the bulk of evidence that each receptor neuron commonly has only one type of receptor.