Because we can discriminate among thousands of different odors and each receptor responds to many odors, coding in the olfactory system has been assumed to operate according to
A) opponent principles.
B) component principles.
C) pheromonal principles.
D) excitatory principles.
E) inhibitory principles.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The fact that each receptor responds to many odors suggests that the olfactory system uses component principles of coding, which means that different combinations of receptor activation can signal different smells. This is in contrast to opponent principles (A), which are based on pairs of opposing stimuli (e.g. black vs. white) and are not relevant to olfaction. Pheromonal principles (C) refer specifically to the chemical signals used by animals to transmit information about identity or behavior, and are not relevant to general odor coding. Excitatory (D) and inhibitory (E) principles are general terms for how neurons can be activated or suppressed, but do not specifically address odor coding in the olfactory system.

Because We Can Discriminate Among Thousands of Different Odors and Each