Olfactory System - Function

Function

The mechanism of the olfactory system can be divided into a peripheral one, sensing an external stimulus and encoding it as an electric signal in neurons, and a central one, where all signals are integrated and processed in the central nervous system.

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Famous quotes containing the word function:

    Uses are always much broader than functions, and usually far less contentious. The word function carries overtones of purpose and propriety, of concern with why something was developed rather than with how it has actually been found useful. The function of automobiles is to transport people and objects, but they are used for a variety of other purposes—as homes, offices, bedrooms, henhouses, jetties, breakwaters, even offensive weapons.
    Frank Smith (b. 1928)

    “... The state’s one function is to give.
    The bud must bloom till blowsy blown
    Its petals loosen and are strown;
    And that’s a fate it can’t evade
    Unless ‘twould rather wilt than fade.”
    Robert Frost (1874–1963)

    Any translation which intends to perform a transmitting function cannot transmit anything but information—hence, something inessential. This is the hallmark of bad translations.
    Walter Benjamin (1892–1940)