American scientists from research institutions Baylor”s Huffington Center in Houston has established the existence of a link between odor perception and the way fat accumulates in the body. They emphasize that not yet understand the nature of this connection, but it is obvious that the diet and the smell of the food here is nothing to do with it. The perception of odor directly affect the metabolism, forcing the body differently to accumulate fat reserves.
All work scientists conducted on worm species C. elegans. These worms are only three pairs of olfactory neurons, and therefore actually track the passage of signals through each. Worms also perceive a very small range of smells that are easy to recreate. For comparison, the human 10-120 million pairs of such neurons, and a trained specialist in fragrances recognize 30,000 individual scents.
The researchers used Optogan light stimulation to monitor the work of olfactory neurons, to check the passage of the signal through separate neural circuits and neuroendocrine path, where the control mechanisms of the accumulation of fat. They were able to follow the changes in this system depending on the different smells. Observers emphasize the experimental worms were eating regular food and in the control group no changes have been made.
Interim conclusion States that now we have to watch not only what you eat but also what smells surround us, if you don’t want to get fat or ishidate. But what smells to be relevant to humans, scientists can not yet say – is the subject of further research. They have no doubt that the signals from the brain and nervous system permanently affect the gastrointestinal tract, it remains only to understand the details of this mechanism.
The worm C. elegans. Yellow pixels show the fabric with a high content of Iriston — Baylor College of Medicine