Latest news from Monell Chemical Senses Center on Newswise en-us Copyright 2025 Newswise 115 31 / /images/newswise-logo-rss.gif /articles/new-breakthrough-consortium-for-olfactory-health-offers-hope-for-the-many-people-living-with-smell-disorders/?sc=rsin /articles/new-breakthrough-consortium-for-olfactory-health-offers-hope-for-the-many-people-living-with-smell-disorders/?sc=rsin Wed, 15 Jan 2025 20:35:41 EST A new collaborative research group, the Breakthrough Consortium for Olfactory Health (BeCOH), brings together charities, patient groups, research institutions, and clinicians, as well as pharmaceutical and diagnostic companies, with a common purpose: driving therapeutic and technical advances to ultimately bring benefit to those worldwide living with the life-changing impact of sensory impairments. Monell Chemical Senses Center /articles/memory-systems-in-the-brain-drive-food-cravings-that-could-influence-body-weight/?sc=rsin /articles/memory-systems-in-the-brain-drive-food-cravings-that-could-influence-body-weight/?sc=rsin Wed, 15 Jan 2025 05:00:00 EST A Monell Center team identified, for the first time, the brain's food-specific memory system and its direct role in overeating and diet-induced obesity. They found a specific population of neurons in the mouse brain that encodes memories for sugar and fat, profoundly impacting food intake and body weight. Monell Chemical Senses Center /articles/monell-center-researchers-extract-anti-inflammatory-compounds-from-the-olive-tree-s-cousin-the-common-privet/?sc=rsin /articles/monell-center-researchers-extract-anti-inflammatory-compounds-from-the-olive-tree-s-cousin-the-common-privet/?sc=rsin Fri, 10 Jan 2025 19:10:43 EST Monell Center sensory scientists found that privet leaves yield significant amounts of both oleocanthal and its closely related compound oleacein. Monell Chemical Senses Center /articles/monell-chemical-senses-center-and-astar-singapore-institute-of-food-and-biotechnology-innovation-sign-agreement-to-collaborate-in-sensory-science-research-and-education/?sc=rsin /articles/monell-chemical-senses-center-and-astar-singapore-institute-of-food-and-biotechnology-innovation-sign-agreement-to-collaborate-in-sensory-science-research-and-education/?sc=rsin Mon, 02 Dec 2024 20:30:00 EST The Monell Chemical Senses Center and A*STAR Singapore Institute of Food and Biotechnology Innovation are about to sign a Memorandum of Understanding to promote academic cooperation and exchange in education and research, with the vision of creating a healthier world by unlocking the mysteries of our senses. Monell Chemical Senses Center /articles/what-is-scentinel-teaching-us-about-smell-disorders-four-years-on/?sc=rsin /articles/what-is-scentinel-teaching-us-about-smell-disorders-four-years-on/?sc=rsin Tue, 20 Aug 2024 14:05:07 EST Over the last four years since the start of the pandemic, the Monell Chemical Senses Center, has developed different iterations of a rapid screening tool for detecting new-onset loss of smell. Since its launch in late 2020, several studies have validated its accuracy in detecting smell dysfunction and value as a tool for testing in large populations of people. Monell Chemical Senses Center /articles/monell-center-discovery-could-help-reduce-adverse-side-effects-of-popular-next-generation-obesity-medications/?sc=rsin /articles/monell-center-discovery-could-help-reduce-adverse-side-effects-of-popular-next-generation-obesity-medications/?sc=rsin Wed, 10 Jul 2024 11:00:00 EST By teasing apart the therapeutic benefits from the adverse effects of new-generation obesity medications, researchers from the Monell Chemical Senses Center found a population of neurons in the brain that controls food intake without causing nausea in an animal model. Monell Chemical Senses Center /articles/engaging-with-patients-for-better-treatments-and-outcomes-for-smell-and-taste-disorders/?sc=rsin /articles/engaging-with-patients-for-better-treatments-and-outcomes-for-smell-and-taste-disorders/?sc=rsin Mon, 10 Jun 2024 15:05:42 EST in 2022 collaborators - patient groups, basic researchers, and clinicians - conducted a survey and listening sessions with patients, caregivers, and family members affected by impaired smell or taste. They asked about their individual perceptions of the effectiveness of treatments, among other topics. Monell Chemical Senses Center /articles/monell-researchers-identify-universal-bitter-blocker-that-could-help-patients-take-their-life-saving-medicines-as-prescribed/?sc=rsin /articles/monell-researchers-identify-universal-bitter-blocker-that-could-help-patients-take-their-life-saving-medicines-as-prescribed/?sc=rsin Wed, 05 Jun 2024 12:05:14 EST Strong bitterness is the main reason why people all over the world, especially children, avoid taking their medicines, putting their health, and sometimes, their lives at risk. Now, a group of scientists at the Monell Chemical Senses Center identified the first temporary, universal taste blocker that works in people. Monell Chemical Senses Center /articles/sweet-taste-receptor-affects-how-glucose-is-handled-metabolically-by-humans/?sc=rsin /articles/sweet-taste-receptor-affects-how-glucose-is-handled-metabolically-by-humans/?sc=rsin Fri, 17 May 2024 13:05:41 EST The sweet taste receptor, expressed in taste bud cells, conveys sweetness from the mouth when it is activated. Monell researchers delved into how the sweet-taste receptor might be the first stop in a metabolic surveillance system for sugar. They team found that stimulation and inhibition of the receptor demonstrates that it helps regulate glucose metabolism in humans and may have implications for managing such metabolic disorders as diabetes. Monell Chemical Senses Center /articles/juyun-lim-phd-joins-monell-chemical-senses-center-to-focus-on-sensory-nutrition-research/?sc=rsin /articles/juyun-lim-phd-joins-monell-chemical-senses-center-to-focus-on-sensory-nutrition-research/?sc=rsin Thu, 16 May 2024 20:05:34 EST The Monell Chemical Senses Center welcomes Juyun Lim, PhD, as the newest addition to the faculty at Monell, starting in August, 2024. She is currently a Professor of Sensory Science and the Chair of the Graduate Program in the Department of Food Science and Technology at Oregon State University. Monell Chemical Senses Center /articles/monell-center-presentations-span-sensory-science-at-national-meeting-april-17-to-20-2024/?sc=rsin /articles/monell-center-presentations-span-sensory-science-at-national-meeting-april-17-to-20-2024/?sc=rsin Fri, 19 Apr 2024 12:05:10 EST Over 20 scientists from the Monell Chemical Senses Center will present their latest research at the 46th Association for Chemoreception Sciences (AChemS) annual conference, which covers the latest advances in the fields of taste, smell, and related chemical senses. Monell Chemical Senses Center /articles/beating-back-bitter-taste-in-medicine-monell-center-scientists-discover-that-diabetes-drug-is-partially-effective-as-a-bitter-blocker/?sc=rsin /articles/beating-back-bitter-taste-in-medicine-monell-center-scientists-discover-that-diabetes-drug-is-partially-effective-as-a-bitter-blocker/?sc=rsin Tue, 09 Apr 2024 15:05:30 EST The bitter taste of certain drugs is a barrier to taking some medications as prescribed, especially for people who are particularly sensitive to bitter taste. A Monell team found that the diabetes drug rosiglitazone could partially block the bitter taste of some especially bad-tasting medications. Monell Chemical Senses Center /articles/onell-center-neuroscientist-receives-chan-zuckerberg-initiative-collaborative-pairs-project-award/?sc=rsin /articles/onell-center-neuroscientist-receives-chan-zuckerberg-initiative-collaborative-pairs-project-award/?sc=rsin Wed, 21 Feb 2024 17:05:01 EST The overall goal of the team is to discover fundamental rules and mechanisms that govern information storage, namely how memories are made and stored. The teams will be looking for and measuring changes in neural circuitry that correspond to memory formation. Monell Chemical Senses Center /articles/monell-center-study-new-gut-brain-circuits-found-for-sugar-and-fat-cravings/?sc=rsin /articles/monell-center-study-new-gut-brain-circuits-found-for-sugar-and-fat-cravings/?sc=rsin Thu, 18 Jan 2024 11:00:00 EST A new study in Cell Metabolism by a team from the Monell Chemical Senses Center unravels the internal neural wiring of separate fat and sugar craving pathways in a mouse model. However, combining these pathways overly triggers a desire to eat more than usual. Monell Chemical Senses Center /articles/monell-researchers-quantify-changes-in-odor-signaling-as-two-nasal-nerve-systems-interact/?sc=rsin /articles/monell-researchers-quantify-changes-in-odor-signaling-as-two-nasal-nerve-systems-interact/?sc=rsin Fri, 27 Oct 2023 04:05:24 EST A research team from the Monell Chemical Senses Center demonstrated, using a novel quantitative analysis, that the neuronal response to odors undergoes some modifications in the nose. Such early processing of olfactory signals is a result of interactions between olfactory receptor neurons and the neighboring trigeminal neurons. Monell Chemical Senses Center /articles/registration-open-for-first-of-its-kind-conference-to-establish-routine-smell-and-taste-testing/?sc=rsin /articles/registration-open-for-first-of-its-kind-conference-to-establish-routine-smell-and-taste-testing/?sc=rsin Mon, 23 Oct 2023 12:05:01 EST Registration is open for a visionary conference titled, "Towards Universal Chemosensory Testing." The Monell Chemical Senses Center, with colleagues from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), The Ohio State University, and the University of Florida, organized this conference with the overarching goal to involve multiple stakeholders to develop strategies for implementing routine chemosensory testing - smell, taste, and related senses - across the lifespan as a part of healthcare in the United States. Monell Chemical Senses Center /articles/monell-center-team-discovers-markers-that-can-predict-how-children-will-tolerate-sweetened-medicine/?sc=rsin /articles/monell-center-team-discovers-markers-that-can-predict-how-children-will-tolerate-sweetened-medicine/?sc=rsin Mon, 18 Sep 2023 13:05:21 EST A multidisciplinary research group specializing in pediatrics, genetics, and psychophysics, co-led by the Monell Chemical Senses Center, has identified wide variation in the sensory perception of a pediatric formulation of ibuprofen -- some that were tied to genetic ancestry, and some that were not. Monell Chemical Senses Center /articles/monell-center-helps-discover-epigenetic-mechanism-that-causes-bitter-taste-distortion/?sc=rsin /articles/monell-center-helps-discover-epigenetic-mechanism-that-causes-bitter-taste-distortion/?sc=rsin Tue, 22 Aug 2023 17:30:54 EST A new study published in iScience, by Hong Wang, PhD, an Associate Member at the Monell Chemical Sense Center, and colleagues sheds light on the mechanisms involved in the complex interplay between taste perception and immune function. Their work also highlights the potential of a sequencing tool for investigating epigenetic mechanisms that affect taste-cell gene expression. Monell Chemical Senses Center /articles/international-study-shows-that-taste-independent-of-smell-can-also-be-significantly-diminished-in-patients-with-covid-19/?sc=rsin /articles/international-study-shows-that-taste-independent-of-smell-can-also-be-significantly-diminished-in-patients-with-covid-19/?sc=rsin Thu, 17 Aug 2023 15:05:17 EST Smell loss became the cardinal symptom of COVID-19 early in the pandemic and has ignited research on how smell and taste function. An international study led by the Global Consortium for Chemosensory Research (GCCR) and the Monell Chemical Senses Center has untied taste from smell in people with COVID-19, demonstrating in a large and diverse group of more than 10,000 people that taste, independent of smell, is also greatly impacted by COVID. Monell Chemical Senses Center /articles/benjamin-p-c-smith-phd-named-director-and-president-of-the-monell-center-taking-the-helm-at-critical-point-in-sensory-science/?sc=rsin /articles/benjamin-p-c-smith-phd-named-director-and-president-of-the-monell-center-taking-the-helm-at-critical-point-in-sensory-science/?sc=rsin Tue, 09 May 2023 16:30:19 EST After an international search, the Board of Directors of the Monell Chemical Senses Center announces that Benjamin P.C. Smith, PhD, Director of the Singapore Future Ready Food Safety Hub, will be the next Monell Director and President. Monell Chemical Senses Center