Bob Pellegrino

We are only studying perception in this study with modeling informed by past molecular studies that have shown wide-spread inhibition for odor mixtures. One version of that inhibition is competitive binding as you refer to. See this paper: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31000595/

This isn’t just theory!
These models can replace slow, expensive “omission tests” in flavor chemistry to find the handful of molecules that actually matter in a food’s aroma.
For instance, what molecules really make coffee smell like coffee. ☕

4/5
Using this information, we can predict perceived odor intensity from molecular structure + concentration with high accuracy for both:
• Single molecules (RMSE = 7.1 on a 100 point scale)
• Complex mixtures (RMSE ~ 7.5)

3/5
Using a very cool bag system to tightly control the concentration, we measured:
• 62 molecules, each at ≥7 concentrations
• 260 mixtures (2–10 components)
• >7,000 intensity ratings from trained human panels

2/5
It’s a trick question. At a lower concentration, acetophenone (left molecule, red, smells like urinal cake) is stronger than 2-heptanone (right molecule, green, smells like blue cheese). So concentration ≠ intensity. That’s been a major roadblock for neuroscience and fragrance / food industries

Chemical structure of acetophenone and 2-heptanone

1/5
Odor intensity isn’t just about concentration! We have a new preprint to prove it: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

In cahoots with @jmainland.bsky.social, @alexkoulakov.bsky.social, Rick Gerkin, Khristina Samoilova and others not on bluesky. 🧪

Which of these molecules smells stronger?

Hi, I'd like to be added to the feed to post a study:
scholar.google.com/citations?us...

work place: monell.org/robert-pelle...

Computational Urban Ecology of New York City Rats Urban rats are highly adaptable, thriving in the dynamic and often inhospitable conditions of modern cities. Despite substantial mitigation efforts, they remain an enduring presence in urban environme...

New preprint!



tl;dr — We ran around late at night to record wild rats in NYC and figured out how to quantify their behavior and environment. 🧵

w/ Dima Batenkov, @zamakany.bsky.social, Emily Mackevicius

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Sometimes I forget that Todd Rundgren doesn't want to work but just wants to bang on the drum all day.

Distinguishing performance gains from learning when using generative AI

Comment by Lixiang Yan, Samuel Greiff, Jason M. Lodge & Dragan Gašević

go.nature.com/3FJqTq3

Automating chemosensory creativity assessment with large language models Chemosensory creativity, the ability to innovate using taste and smell, is a crucial yet understudied aspect of human ingenuity. This study explores t…

Large language models (LLMs) can mirror human thinking in vision and language, but can they smell and taste?

New study with @rbrainengineer.bsky.social show stochastic LLMs rate creative flavor pairings like humans, prioritizing novelty over taste. #AI #creativity #foodscience

ACOG is deeply disappointed by HHS’s move to drop COVID-19 vaccine recommendations in pregnancy. The science is clear: COVID-19 remains dangerous in pregnancy and vaccination protects both patients and newborns. The vaccine is safe and protects families. Read our full statement: buff.ly/OGue7sO

Towards Universal Chemosensory Testing: Needs, Barriers and Opportunities

Regular smell and taste testing could aid early detection of impairments that negatively impact health, safety, and quality of life, and could also reveal underlying disease. But how do we get there? This new whitepaper is out today:

YouTube video by Starflyer 59 - Topic Lust For Gold

One of the few bands I’ve been listening to since the 90s and still putting out great stuff

DREAM Olfactory Mixtures Prediction Challenge 2025 'DREAM Olfactory Mixtures Prediction Challenge 2025' (Synapse ID: syn64743570) is a project on Synapse. Synapse is a platform for supporting scientific collaborations centered around shared biomed...

With a contemporary smartphone, capturing, transmitting, and replicating sounds and visuals is a breeze, yet replicating scents remains elusive. If you want to change this, consider joining the 2025 DREAM Olfaction Challenge at www.synapse.org/Synapse:syn6....
@oldbap.bsky.social

Most people haven’t heard of this test, which is available in the US. It accurately predicts Alzheimer’s (not just if there’s a risk, but when). It is modulated by exercise and likely other lifestyle factors.
Here’s (almost) everything we know about it
erictopol.substack.com/p/the-breakt...

Stereo olfaction underlies stable coding of head direction in blind mice - Nature Communications Stereo olfaction involves comparing odor differences between the two nostrils. Here, using neuronal recordings and a behavioral test, the authors demonstrate that blind mice use stereo olfaction to fo...

Excited to share the sequel to our 2022 paper! In this follow-up, we show that the stable head direction (HD) signals we reported in blind mice rely on stereo olfaction—that is, the comparison of odor info. between the two nostrils.

Link: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

🧵highlights below

Piriform cortex is an ictogenic trigger zone in the primate brain Objective Area tempestas, a functionally defined region in the anterior piriform cortex, was identified as a crucial ictogenic trigger zone in the rat brain in the 1980s. However, whether the primat...

Very proud of this paper, which spans three decades of work. (1/17) onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Welcome to the Bluesky account for Stand Up for Science 2025!

Keep an eye on this space for updates, event information, and ways to get involved. We can't wait to see everyone #standupforscience2025 on March 7th, both in DC and locations nationwide!

#scienceforall #sciencenotsilence

Mapping the landscape of social behavior Computer vision and machine learning approaches map a multi-scale social behavioral landscape, revealing ASD signatures and establishing an atlas of rodent sociality.

New video tracking suite for social behavior + large dataset to benchmark other tracking suites.

Today's @usatoday.com front page
First US death from measles in 10 years
First child to die from measles in 22 years in the US
All of this fully preventable

One more day to get your paper in.

Learning the language of life with AI In 2021, a year before ChatGPT took the world by storm amid the excitement about generative artificial intelligence (AI), AlphaFold 2 cracked the 50-year-old protein-folding problem, predicting three-...

Learning the language of life with A.I.
@science.org
In today's essay, I review the phenomenal progress in foundation models of DNA, RNA, proteins, ligands, cells, their interactions, the Virtual Lab, and the aspiration for the Virtual Cell
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Interested in understanding how things work? In particular the tools you use to study the brain? Join us at TENSS 2025 where we brainstorm ideas, build and debug microscopes, electrophysiology and behavior rigs amidst the picturesque Transylvanian hills! tenss.ro
Apply by: February 16th!

The Effect of Olfactory Disorder (and Other Chemosensory Disorders) on Perception, Acceptance, and Consumption of Food People with changes in the overall sensory experience of food often complain of taste disturbances, although the problem is normally caused by the loss of aroma in the food (thus an olfactory disorder...

Alexander Fjaeldstad and I have a new chapter in the book Smell, Taste, Eat: The Role of the Chemical Senses in Eating Behaviour, edited by @LorenzoDStafford. Lots of great insights here.

From our chapter, it’s clear that smell loss and its impact on ingestion remain vastly underexplored."

Perceptual constancy for an odor is acquired through changes in primary sensory neurons Learning-induced changes in primary sensory neurons support concentration-invariant perception of an odor.

We have a fresh new paper!
The PhD project of the talented Mark Conway.

A learning-induced change in the sensitivity of olfactory receptor neurons enables consistent perception of an odor. #olfaction #neuroscience

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Olfaction and taste This Collection welcomes original research articles that investigate the senses of olfaction and taste. Animal studies as well as clinical studies that report ...

www.nature.com/collections/...

@achems.bsky.social @olfalabs.bsky.social

‘The Forgotten Sense’ Review: What the Nose Knows The human sense of smell is more powerful than we realize. It often works best in subtle collaboration with our other senses.

www.wsj.com/arts-culture...

I did a podcast on the smell of magic: the gathering cards 🤓 but I don’t think that’s what you want

Sniffing out the mysteries of olfaction A background in physics, and his own curiosity, have helped Dmitry Rinberg tackle the complexities of the neuroscience of smell.

Sniffing out the mysteries of olfaction with Dmitry Rinberg.

By Lina Zeldovich

www.thetransmitter.org/olfaction/sn...