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Chem. Senses 27: 95-104, 2002
© Oxford University Press 2002

A Model for Odour Thresholds

Michael H. Abraham, Joëlle M.R. Gola, J. Enrique Cometto-Muniz1 and William S. Cain1

Department of Chemistry, University College London, 20 Gordon Street, London WC1H 0AJ, UK 1 Chemosensory Perception Laboratory, Department of Surgery (Otolaryngology), University of California, San Diego, Mail Code 0957, La Jolla, CA 92093-0957, USA

Correspondence to be sent to: Michael H. Abraham, Department of Chemistry, University College London, 20 Gordon Street, London WC1H 0AJ, UK. e-mail: m.h.abraham{at}ucl.ac.uk

Odour detection thresholds, that we have previously obtained, have been analysed by a general equation for selective transport. It is shown that such selective transport can account for some 77% of the total effect. The remainder is due to a specific size effect, that might involve odour-binding proteins, and a specific effect for aldehydes and carboxylic acids. Our analysis raises the question of whether selective transport is physically separable from the specific effects of receptor activation. The model predicts a chemical cut-off in odour detection along any homologous series.


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