How might society benefit from understanding the ways in which the brain processes smell? John Crimaldi, a professor in civil, environmental, and architectural engineering at the University of Colorado in Boulder, who leads the Ecological Fluid Dynamics Lab, has more than a few answers. Getting clarity around brain function, he says, could lead to breakthroughs in a wide range of topics, from neurological disorders to artificial intelligence.

Read more about this research—a product of the NeuroNex project, Odor2Action.