PERCEPTION OF ODOR AND IRRITATION.

The persistence and poor semantic identification, form the basis for the strong impact of environmental smells associated with environmental stimulation. It is proposed that the two perceptions are highly interrelated and that while anatomically different structures are involved in such environmental stimulation, perceptions are not so readily categorized. In the most simple case, whether or not odor or irritation is experienced depends on the strength of the stimulus. But it is usually more complex than that because perception is affected by the environmental context, facilitation and inhibition by other stimulation, and the state of adaptation of the perceiver. In addition, there are three important differences between odor perception and irritation, which are also explored in the paper.