The art of smell: Research suggests the brain processes smell both like a painting and a symphony

What happens when we smell a rose? How does our brain process the essence of its fragrance? Is it like a painting—a snapshot of the flickering activity of cells—captured in a moment in time? Or like a symphony, an evolving ensemble of different cells working together to capture the scent? New research suggests that our brain does both.
What happens when we smell a rose? How does our brain process the essence of its fragrance? Is it like a painting—a snapshot of the flickering activity of cells—captured in a moment in time? Or like a symphony, an evolving ensemble of different cells working together to capture the scent? New research suggests that our brain does both.