Association for Chemoreception Sciences (AChemS)

AChemS researchers study how chemical signals—like those in body odor—communicate emotional states and information between individuals, even across species. From fear sweat to social cues, our chemosensory systems reveal hidden layers of communication.

🎃 The Headless Horseman couldn't smell you… but his horse could. Horses detect human emotions—including fear—through body odor. They can distinguish fear sweat from joy sweat. No head? No problem. The horse still hunts you down.

#Halloween!! #AChemS

#AChemS2026 ABSTRACT SUBMISSION IS OPEN! Submit an abstract and present your research at the preeminent international chemosensory meeting achems.org/2026/

Submission Deadline Date: January 12, 2026

AChemS researchers study how salivary enzymes and oral processing influence taste perception and flavor release. From the first bite to the final swallow, understanding these dynamic changes helps us decode the full sensory experience of eating.

It's World Bread Day! 🥖
Why does plain bread taste sweet the longer you chew? Thank your saliva. Enzymes like amylase break starch into maltose and other sugars—so your taste perception can change over the course of a single bite.

#WorldBreadDay!! #AChemS

AChemS researchers study sensory adaptation, taste receptor sensitivity, and how flavor compounds interact with our perception systems. Understanding these mechanisms reveals why desserts deliver such complex sensory experiences from start to finish.

It's National Dessert Day! 🍰
Why does that first bite of cake taste intense, but by the last, you barely notice the sweetness? Sensory adaptation—your taste receptors adjust to constant stimulation, dulling perception bite by bite.

#NationalDessertDay!! #AChemS

AChemS researchers study flavor interactions, trigeminal sensations like carbonation, and how taste compounds enhance or suppress each other. This reveals why certain food and drink pairings create such satisfying sensory experiences.

It's National Pizza and Beer Day!🍕🍻
Why do they pair so perfectly? Beer's carbonation lifts fats and oils from cheese, while its bitterness balances pizza's saltiness and umami—creating the perfect flavor reset.

#NationalPizzaAndBeerDay!! #AChemS

Mechanisms of scent-tracking in humans Nature Neuroscience - Mechanisms of scent-tracking in humans

Our sense of smell is not as bad as you may think! Did you know that humans can ‘follow their nose’, just like dogs can, e.g. to track their prey?
www.nature.com/artic...

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Donate to Supporting Research and Education on Smell and Taste, organized by Alfredo Fontanini The Association for Chemoreception Sciences (AChemS) is a non-… Alfredo Fontanini needs your support for Supporting Research and Education on Smell and Taste

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AChemS researchers study how different receptors transmit specific information from the mouth to the brain for integration of multisensory information like taste, smell, and texture. This allows us to perceive some of our favorite foods!
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🥞 It’s National Pancake Day! 🥞

From crispy edges to fluffy centers, pancakes hit every note—texture, taste, and pure buttery bliss. Who knew breakfast could be such a full-on sensory masterpiece?
#NationalPancakeDay!! #AChemS

Donate to Supporting Research and Education on Smell and Taste, organized by Alfredo Fontanini The Association for Chemoreception Sciences (AChemS) is a non-… Alfredo Fontanini needs your support for Supporting Research and Education on Smell and Taste

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The proust effect: Scents, food, and nostalgia Autobiographical memories activated by the senses, particularly smell and taste, can be among the most potent and influential, an experience labelled …

The sense of smell is a very powerful trigger for memories. A familiar smell can take you back to childhood or remind you of a past love. Smell taps directly into the brain's memory centers and is the bearer of our most vivid recollections!

Donate to Supporting Research and Education on Smell and Taste, organized by Alfredo Fontanini The Association for Chemoreception Sciences (AChemS) is a non-… Alfredo Fontanini needs your support for Supporting Research and Education on Smell and Taste

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NYAS Publications Our perception of the sensory world is constantly modulated by the environment surrounding us and by our psychological state; each encounter with the same stimulus can in fact evoke very different pe...

Did you know that expectation of how a food should taste influences what you think it tastes like? Our expectations, drawn from previous experiences, are very important in enhancing or diminishing how we perceive the foods and beverages we eat and drink

Donate to Supporting Research and Education on Smell and Taste, organized by Alfredo Fontanini The Association for Chemoreception Sciences (AChemS) is a non-… Alfredo Fontanini needs your support for Supporting Research and Education on Smell and Taste

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The Functional and Neurobiological Properties of Bad Taste | Physiological Reviews | American Physiological Society The gustatory system serves as a critical line of defense against ingesting harmful substances. Technological advances have fostered the characterization of peripheral receptors and have created opportunities for more selective manipulations of the nervous system, yet the neurobiological mechanisms underlying taste-based avoidance and aversion remain poorly understood. One conceptual obstacle stems from a lack of recognition that taste signals subserve several behavioral and physiological functions which likely engage partially segregated neural circuits. Moreover, although the gustatory system evolved to respond expediently to broad classes of biologically relevant chemicals, innate repertoires are often not in register with the actual consequences of a food. The mammalian brain exhibits tremendous flexibility; responses to taste can be modified in a specific manner according to bodily needs and the learned consequences of ingestion. Therefore, experimental strategies that distinguish between the functional properties of various taste-guided behaviors and link them to specific neural circuits need to be applied. Given the close relationship between the gustatory and visceroceptive systems, a full reckoning of the neural architecture of bad taste requires an understanding of how these respective sensory signals are integrated in the brain.

Have you ever eaten or drunk something that made your stomach sick and now can't stand its taste? That's conditioned taste aversion—an evolutionary mechanism that can save us from harmful food after just one mistaken bite.

Did you know that olfactory sensory neurons of your nose and taste cells of your mouth regenerate during life, so that your sense of smell and taste remains fresh and sharp? journals.biologists....
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Why Do People Scrunch Up Their Faces After Tasting Something Sour? Here's why people make that "sour" face.

Did you know that babies and rodents pull funny faces when they taste something sour or bitter? It’s an instinct to not eat bad or harmful foods.
www.livescience.com/...

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Donate to Supporting Research and Education on Smell and Taste, organized by Alfredo Fontanini The Association for Chemoreception Sciences (AChemS) is a non-… Alfredo Fontanini needs your support for Supporting Research and Education on Smell and Taste

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Did you know that as we age, taste and smell tend to diminish, which can negatively affect everything from eating habits to personal safety. Understanding the changes that occur is key to improving the health and quality of life for older adults.
www.nia.nih.gov/heal...

Monell Center Researchers Received a 2025 Ig Nobel Prize for their Landmark Flavor Study - Monell Chemical Senses Center Their “laugh, then think” work found that garlic flavors transmit to human milk, and infants savored that flavor during breastfeeding

Congratulations AChemS members Dr. Julie Mennella and Dr. Gary Beauchamp on achieving the the 2025 Ig Nobel Prize in Pediatrics.
monell.org/monell-cente...

Donate to Supporting Research and Education on Smell and Taste, organized by Alfredo Fontanini The Association for Chemoreception Sciences (AChemS) is a non-… Alfredo Fontanini needs your support for Supporting Research and Education on Smell and Taste

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Therapeutic potential of ectopic olfactory and taste receptors Nature Reviews Drug Discovery - Olfactory and taste receptors are ectopically expressed in multiple extra-nasal and extra-oral tissues, exhibiting potential functions in a diverse range of...

Can you believe that the olfactory and taste receptors exist not only in the nose and mouth but are distributed all over our body? They are called "ectopic" receptors, and they might reveal some secrets about how our body senses its environment. www.nature.com/artic....

Donate to Supporting Research and Education on Smell and Taste, organized by Alfredo Fontanini The Association for Chemoreception Sciences (AChemS) is a non-… Alfredo Fontanini needs your support for Supporting Research and Education on Smell and Taste

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AChemS researchers study how taste, smell, and texture signals from the mouth are integrated in the brain. This multisensory processing helps explain why classic combos—like beef and cheese—are so satisfying!
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🍔 It’s National Cheeseburger Day!🍔

Juicy beef, melty cheese, crisp lettuce, and a toasted bun—burgers deliver a perfect mashup of textures and flavors that light up our senses. Every bite is a full-on flavor experience!
#NationalCheeseburgerDay #AChemS

Human olfactory psychophysics Of all the senses, smell is the least understood. Despite centuries of investigation, science can still offer no satisfying theory for why a particular substance smells the way it does. Nor do we understand in any detail how we are able to distinguish the smell of a peach from that of an apricot, or how a particular smell can trigger long-forgotten memories of a distant time or place. Human olfactory psychophysics, the study of how humans perceive odors, is possible because humans have acquired language. Human subjects can report directly if something smells, characterize the smell, or decide if two smells are distinguishable. Answers to these simple questions have the potential to provide insight into important questions: What (if any) is the relationship between the chemical structure of an odor and its perceived smell? What types of olfactory stimuli can be discriminated, and how is this accomplished in the nose and the brain? How does experience modulate our perception of odorants? There are of course many things that cannot be done in humans, for instance genetic manipulation and electrophysiology, but these types of approaches are successfully used in animal models.

That is the equivalent of finding a drop of perfume in an Olympic-sized swimming pool. www.cell.com/current....

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