Biology is designed for multi-semester biology courses for science majors. It is grounded on an evolutionary basis and includes exciting features that highlight careers in the biological sciences and everyday applications of the concepts at hand. To meet the needs of today’s instructors and students, some content has been strategically condensed while maintaining the overall scope and coverage of traditional texts for this course. Instructors can customize the book, adapting it to the approach that works best in their classroom. Biology also includes an innovative art program that incorporates critical thinking and clicker questions to help students understand—and apply—key concepts.

By the end of this section, you will be able to:Explain in what way smell and taste stimuli differ from other sensory stimuliIdentify the five primary tastes that can be distinguished by humansExplain in anatomical terms why a dog’s sense of smell is more acute than a human’s

This course serves as an introduction to the structure and function of the nervous system. Emphasis is placed on the cellular properties of neurons and other excitable cells. Topics covered include the structure and biophysical properties of excitable cells, synaptic transmission, neurochemistry, neurodevelopment, and the integration of information in simple systems and the visual system.

The course will start with an overview of the central and peripheral nervous systems (CNS and PNS), the development of their structure and major divisions. The major functional components of the CNS will then be reviewed individually. Topography, functional distribution of nerve cell bodies, ascending and descending tracts in the spinal cord. Brainstem organization and functional components, including cranial nerve nuclei, ascending / descending pathways, amine-containing cells, structure and information flow in the cerebellar and vestibular systems. Distribution of the cranial nerves, resolution of their skeletal and branchial arch components. Functional divisions of the Diencephalon and Telencephalon. The course will then continue with how these various CNS pieces and parts work together. Motor systems, motor neurons and motor units, medial and lateral pathways, cortical versus cerebellar systems and their functional integration. The sensory systems, visual, auditory and somatosensory. Olfaction will be covered in the context of the limbic system, which will also include autonomic control and the Papez circuit. To conclude, functional organization and information flow in the neocortex will be discussed.

Olfaction is the sense of smell, which is the ability to perceive and distinguish odours. Most mammals have a good sense of smell, but most birds generally do not. The sense of smell is well-developed in carnivores (predators) and ungulates (prey). Fish also have a fairly well-developed sense of smell. Olfactory and gustatory receptors can combine to contribute to flavour.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"The abundant vegetation in forested areas can obstruct the view of potential food sources giving animals that can locate food with senses other than sight an advantage. While researchers hypothesize that fruit aromas evolved to attract primates to effectively disperse the seeds they contain, it’s unclear whether primates can use odor cues to locate fruit outside of their visual range. A recent study tested whether ring-tailed lemurs could detect distant hidden fruit by scent alone. The researchers hid containers holding real and imitation cantaloupe 4-17 m away from a trail routinely used by lemurs. They found that the lemurs were able to locate the real cantaloupe when the wind blew its scent toward the trail but were unable to find the imitation cantaloupe. The lemurs also showed behaviors indicating that they were following the cantaloupe “odor plume..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Nature is everything around us, and it is essential to our survival. But air pollution threatens to become its undoing, causing harm to nature and illness and death to humankind. Among numerous toxic gases, hydrogen sulfide - H₂S - is unique due to its industrial and natural origin, as well as its high toxicity. Arising primarily from oil rigs and catastrophic flooding, H₂S has severe effects on the respiratory and nervous system, making early environmental detection essential. Although many detection techniques exist, they suffer from large size, low sensitivity, and high cost. With this in mind, scientists from the research group of Dr. C.V. Yelamaggad at CeNS Bangalore designed novel materials capable of H₂S sensing at very low concentrations. The functional organic materials, called tris-hydrazones, were fabricated by Professor Khaled Salama’s group from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.