Nose-Mind-Sight Connection in Our Canine Friends
A recent discovery introduced that dogs have a nose-to-brain connection. A dog’s nose is used
for more things than we realize. They use them just as we do in our everyday life; however, their
noses not only help them with daily activities, but they also sniff out bombs, drugs, weapons, and
diseases. I credited their nasal excellence to the over 300 million scent receptors in their snout,
making them more sensitive and better at smelling. However, there is new research that goes to
show there is even a deeper connection to the brain!
The part of a dog's brain that oversees smell is also connected to a dog's vision. If a dog is blind,
he would be able to perform tasks that require vision because the nose and sight are connected in the
brain. A veterinary research team further explored this by taking the MRI scans of twenty mixed
breed dogs and three beagles. They had the dogs smell scents and watched their olfactory bulbs
as they inhaled. A dog’s olfactory bulb is thirty times the size of a human's, which helps to
explain its enhanced sense. Five neural tracts were found that go from the olfactory bulb to the
brain. The MRIs also showed direct pathways between the nose and the brain. Specifically, one
pathway from the nose to where vision is controlled in the brain has not been seen in any other
species thus far.
A dog's behavior, such as blind dogs still being able to play fetch, helped clue researchers into
this ability our canine friends have. Because of this newly presented research, there will be
studies on various animals to see if there are more connections between vision and smell in the
brain. A dog with compromised vision is still able to “see” with its nose!
https://www.discovery.com/science/dog-noses
Sneha Magesh (2)
Hi Sneha, I found the part of your blog about how dogs' vision and sense of smell are connected very interesting. I'd love to learn the details. Does their sense of smell create a map in their mind almost like echolocation or is it more about providing details of an image deeper than they can see? I'd also love to learn more about the neutral tracks you discussed that connect the olfactory bulb to the brain. - Victoria Flynn
ReplyDeleteTheir smell and vision are connected so I believe when they smell something, lots of information goes to their olfactory bulb!
DeleteHello Sneha! This was such an interesting topic to read about. I was aware that a dogs nose was very sensitive however, I was unaware about how much deeper this went. I knew about dogs being able to sniff out drugs, bombs, weapons, and diseases. However, I did not know about the notion that a dog with compromised vision still being able to “see” with its nose! This really intreagued me and I was wondering if there was any other reasearch or case studies done on this topic? Would the dogs be functioning exacly the same with just the use of their nose or would there be some major differences?
ReplyDelete- Adyelis M. Colon Martinez
^^the above comment was written by Ila Bedenkop
DeleteI thought about the same thing! I found out there are lots of articles about this topic. I believe when they smell something it sends information to their olfactory bulb. This way they have a good idea of what they are "seeing" but it's not the same as sight.
DeleteHi Sneha! It is very interesting to learn more about how dogs' sense of smell works. I really wonder how dogs visualize what they smell if their sense of smell is connected to their vision. This also gets me curious about if the same thing is true for other animals like cats? I know that cats also have a strong sense of smell - at least more prominent than humans, so I wonder if cats also have some sort of visualization when they smell.
ReplyDeleteHi Victoria! I actually thought about the same thing when I was reading this article. I wonder if carts have the same ability or if they have something else unique about them! Maybe they would be able to picture the image through smell better than dogs do because they have a strong sense of smell.
DeleteHi Sneha, I find this post very interesting. I knew dogs had a powerful sense of smell but not to the extent of connection to vision, and being able to "see with their nose". I wonder how this specific neurological-pathway connects and works and what further research will look like.
ReplyDeleteThis was very interesting to read, as I had not known that a dog’s sense of smell was connected to its vision. Has there been any other research on other animal species with similar results? For example in animals that have very little visual receptors compared to scent receptors, such as naked mole-rats. Are the results found in dogs similar to those found in these other types of animals?
ReplyDeleteHi Sneha! What an interesting topic! As someone who loves dogs, I loved reading about this cool power that they have. I knew that they had a great sense of smell, but I didn’t know that it was actually linked to their vision in their brains. How many scent receptors do people have in comparison to dogs? Also, do you know any other species that have a better sense of smell than dogs do?
ReplyDelete-Anna Niezrecki
Hi Sneha! This post made me smile because I have a pet beagle named Buddy. Since he and I were little, we always a game by hiding treats and then I would watch him track them down. Unlike my other dog that goes on walks with her head in the air, Buddy always walks with his nose to the ground, often sounding like a pig because he loves to sniff. As Buddy has gotten older, he doesn't seem to be very good at playing our hiding treats game. Do you think that the dog's olfactory bulbs get smaller as they age? I wonder if sense of smell is affected by age?
ReplyDelete-Samantha Bunner
Hi Sneha! This post is so cool! I actually babysat at a house who had a dog that had both of its eyes removed because they were cancerous so this was really cool to learn more about how he was able to adapt to the environment and still be able to get around! It was actually crazy to observe him as he navigated with his nose throughout the yard, and was still able to make it back to the house and up the stairs.
ReplyDeleteBrenna MacDonald