TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, September 17, 2020 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Across 5 days in August (3rd-7th), scientists from around the world gathered virtually to present and discuss new information on the role of the chemical senses in disease, nutrition, and social interactions in humans and animals.

The chemical senses, olfaction (smell), gustation (taste), and chemesthesis (touch, temperature, irritation), play essential roles in our daily lives - they serve as important warning systems, alerting us to the presence of potentially harmful situations or substances, including gas leaks, smoke, and spoiled food. Flavors and fragrances are also important in determining what foods we eat and the commercial products we use. The pleasures derived from eating are mainly based on the chemical senses.

Thousands of Americans experience loss or dysfunction of the chemical senses each year resulting from head trauma, sinus disease, cancer, and neurological disorders, such as stroke, multiple sclerosis, and Alzheimer's disease, among others. Indeed, loss of smell and/or taste is a notable and troubling symptom of the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which has infected millions globally in just the first half of 2020. By providing a better understanding of the function of chemosensory systems, scientific and biomedical research is leading to improvements in the diagnosis and treatment of many disorders.

Among those presenting their research advancements were members of the Association for Chemoreception Sciences (AChemS; http//www.achems.org), which held its 41st annual meeting in conjunction with the 2020 International Symposium on Olfaction and Taste (ISOT; https://achems.org/ISOT/). During AChemS/ISOT, scientists from around the world presented their latest research findings on myriad topics around chemosensation, ranging from molecular mechanisms through cognitive processes and associated behaviors.

Selected new discoveries presented at the meeting include:

• Understanding the sense of smell via synthetic odors
https://achems.org/virtual/?page=presentation&session_id=95&presentation_id=294
Contact: Edmund Chong, +1 ‪(857) 574-0609, Edmund.Chong@nyulangone.org‬‬‬

• Odors change when we know their names
https://achems.org/virtual/?page=presentation&session_id=95&presentation_id=296
Contact: Sarah Cormiea, +1 (617) 302 0009, sarah.cormiea@gmail.com

• The enhanced evolutionary mechanism of olfaction
https://achems.org/virtual/?page=presentation&session_id=95&presentation_id=247
Contact: Claire de March, +1 (919) 949 8574, claire.de.march@duke.edu

• Decreased sense of smell leads to future depression in older US adults
https://achems.org/virtual/?page=presentation&session_id=94&presentation_id=418
Contact: Jayant M. Pinto, +1 (773) 702-6727, jpinto@surgery.bsd.uchicago.edu

• Smelling with single cells: testing the sensitivity limits of olfaction
https://achems.org/virtual/?page=presentation&session_id=95&presentation_id=289
Contact: Jonathan Gill, +1 (973) 727-5032, jvg219@nyu.edu

• Factors Impacting Refreshment
https://achems.org/virtual/?page=presentation&session_id=94&presentation_id=439
Contact: Amy Hampton, +1 (214) 663- 4016, ahampton4@twu.edu

• No differences for liking or taste sensitivity after ultraprocessed and non-processed foods
https://achems.org/virtual/?page=presentation&session_id=94&presentation_id=429
Contact: Paule V. Joseph, +1 (301) 339-4869, Paule.Joseph@nih.gov

• Beta-caryophyllene (BCP) improves wound healing in mice
https://achems.org/virtual/?page=presentation&session_id=94&presentation_id=309
Contact: Sachiko Koyama, +1 (812) 345-6155, sakoyama@indiana.edu

• A psychological stressor conveyed by appetite-linked neurons
https://achems.org/virtual/?page=presentation&session_id=95&presentation_id=244
Contact: Eun Jeong Lee, 1-425-324-5894. elee2@fredhutch.org

• Filiform papillae are “in the thick” of viscosity
https://achems.org/virtual/?page=presentation&session_id=95&presentation_id=214
Contact: Brittany Miles, +1 (919) 656 7090, miles.243@osu.edu

• Autism gene affects processing of unfamiliar odors
https://achems.org/virtual/?page=presentation&session_id=95&presentation_id=304
Contact: Gonzalo Otazu, +1 (631) 327-5980, gotazual@nyit.edu

• Reliable readout of mixture components from small populations of anterior piriform cortical neurons
https://achems.org/virtual/?page=presentation&session_id=95&presentation_id=265
Contact: Dan Rokni, +972-2-6757496, dan.ronki@mail.huji.ac.il

• Bitter taste receptors (TAS2Rs) mediate food allergy (FA)
https://achems.org/virtual/?page=presentation&session_id=95&presentation_id=260
Contact: Zeping Shao, +61 412 307 229, z.shao@uq.edu.au

• Ethanol perception varies with thermal taste status
https://achems.org/virtual/?page=presentation&session_id=95&presentation_id=222
Contact: Margaret Thibodeau, +1 (905) 688 5550 x4719, mt10xw@brocku.ca

• The Life and Death of a Taste Cell
https://achems.org/virtual/?page=presentation&session_id=94&presentation_id=530
Contact: Courtney Wilson, +1 (720) 326-4861, courtney.wilson@cuanschutz.edu

• Cranberry polyphenols and individual differences in salivary proteins
https://achems.org/virtual/?page=presentation&session_id=95&presentation_id=245
Contact: Neeta Yousaf, +1 (914) 309-6161, neeta.yousaf@rutgers.edu

Martha Bajec
Public Affairs & Information Committee - AChemS
+1 289-241-1629
email us here