What are the physiological effects of olfactory stimulation?

Answer 1

Depends what you smell. The odors must be water soluble and dissolve in the thin watery fluid of the nasal cavity. Once dissolved, the odors bind to the olfactory receptors triggering stimulation of the olfactory nerves. The nerves course through the olfactory tract and go to the rhinencephalon triggering the cortex and the limbic system. This in turn, depending on the smell, gets processed and the appropriate response occurs.