Sobel, N; Prabhakaran, V; Hartley, CA; Desmond, JE; Zhao, Z; Glover, GH; Gabrieli, JDE; Sullivan, EV

Journal of Neuroscience [J. Neurosci.], vol. 18, no. 21, pp. 8990-9001, 1 Nov 1998

Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to test whether odorants induce activation in the cerebellum of the human. The odorants vanillin and propionic acid both induced significant activation, primarily in the posterior lateral hemispheres. Activation was concentration-dependent, greater after stimulation with higher concentration odorants. By contrast, the action of sniffing nonodorized air induced significant activation in the anterior cerebellum, primarily in the central lobule. These findings demonstrate that the cerebellum plays a role in human olfaction. A hypothesis is proposed whereby the cerebellum maintains a feedback mechanism that regulates sniff volume in relation to odor concentration.