How do dogs "see" with their noses? - Alexandra Horowitz

Prevoditelj: Tina Marić Recezent: Ivan Stamenković

"Hi, Bob."

'' Zdravo, Bob. ''

"Morning, Kelly. The tulips looks great."

'' Jutro, Kelly. Tulipani izgledaju sjajno. ''

Have you ever wondered how your dog experiences the world?

Jeste li se ikada zapitali kako Vaš pas doživljava svijet?

Here's what she sees.

Evo što ona vidi.

Not terribly interesting.

Ništa pretjerano zanimljivo.

But what she smells, that's a totally different story.

Ali mirisi koje osjeti su potpuno druga priča.

And it begins at her wonderfully developed nose.

A sve počinje od njezina savršeno razvijenog nosa.

As your dog catches the first hints of fresh air,

Čim vaš pas uhvati prvi dašak svježeg zraka,

her nose's moist, spongy outside helps capture any scents the breeze carries.

mokrom, spužvastom vanjskom stranom nosa hvata miris koji povjetarac nanese.

Sposobnost da miriše zasebno svakom nosnicom,

The ability to smell separately with each nostril,

smelling in stereo,

njušeći na stereo način,

pomaže mu odrediti smjer odakle dopire miris

helps to determine the direction of the smell's source

so that within the first few moments of sniffing,

tako da u prvih par trenutaka njušenja

the dog starts to become aware of not just what kind of things are out there

pas postaje svjestan ne samo onoga što se tamo nalazi,

but also where they're located.

nego i gdje se to nalazi.

As air enters the nose,

Kako zrak ulazi u nos,

mali nabor tkiva ga dijeli na dva jednaka dijela,

a small fold of tissue divides it into two separate folds,

one for breathing and one just for smelling.

jedan za disanje, a drugi samo za mirisanje.

Ovaj drugi protok zraka ulazi u područje

This second airflow enters a region

filled with highly specialized olfactory receptor cells,

ispunjeno visoko specijaliziranim receptorskim stanicama za mirisanje

several hundred millions of them, compaired to our five million.

-štoviše, s nekoliko stotina milijuna njih, u usporedbi s naših pet milijuna.

And unlike our clumsy way of breathing in and out through the same passage,

Za razliku od našeg nespretnog načina disanja - udisanja i izdisanja kroz isti prolaz,

dogs exhale through slits at the side of their nose,

psi izdišu kroz proreze sa strane nosa,

stvarajući vrtloge zraka koji pomažu u privlačenju novih molekula mirisa

creating swirls of air that help draw in new odor molecules

and allow odor concentration to build up over mulitple sniffs.

i povećavaju njihovu koncentraciju putem višestrukih udisaja.

Ali čitava ta impresivna nosna struktura ne bi bila od velike koristi

But all that impressive nasal architecture wouldn't be much help

without something to process the loads of information the nose scoops up.

da ne postoji nešto što obrađuje hrpe informacija koje nos prikupi.

And it turns out that the olfactory system dedicated to proessing smells

Ispostavilo se da olfaktorni sustav, usmjeren na obrađivanje mirisa,

takes up many times more relative brain area in dogs than in humans.

kod pasa zauzima mnogo veće područje mozga nego kod ljudi.

All of this allows dogs to distinguish

Sve od navedenog omogućuje psima da razlikuju

and remember a staggering variety of specific scents

i upamte zapanjujuće širok spektar posebnih mirisa

at concentrations up to 100 million times less than what our noses can detect.

i to na koncentraciji i do sto milijuna puta manjoj nego ju naši nosevi mogu otkriti.

Ako možete namirisati kap parfema u maloj sobi,

If you can smell a spritz of perfume in a small room,

a dog would have no trouble smelling it in an enclosed stadium

pas bi s lakoćom mogao isto to na zatvorenom stadionu,

and distinguishing its ingredients, to boot.

kao i prepoznati njegove sastojke.

And everything in the street, every passing person or car,

Sve na ulici, svaki prolaznik ili auto,

any contents of the neighbor's trash,

bilo kakav sadržaj susjedova smeća,

bilo koja vrsta drveta,

each type of tree,

and all the birds and insects in it

i sve ptice i insekti u njima,

has a distinct odor profile telling your dog what it is, where it is,

- svi imaju poseban miris koji psu govori što je, gdje je

and which direction it's moving in.

i u kojem se smjeru kreće.

Besides being much more powerful than ours,

Osim što je puno snažniji od našeg,

a dog's sense of smell can pick up things that can't even be seen at all.

pseći osjet mirisa može osjetiti stvari koje se uopće ne mogu vidjeti.

Čitav zaseban olfaktorni sustav,

A whole separate olfactory system,

called the vomeronasal organ, above the roof of the mouth,

po imenu vomeronazalni organ, smješten iznad tvrdog nepca,

detects the hormones all animals, Including humans, naturally release.

otkriva hormone koje sve životinje, uključujući i ljude, prirodno otpuštaju.

To omogućuje psima da prepoznati potencijalne partnere,

It lets dogs identify potential mates,

or distinguish between friendly and hostile animals.

ili razlikovati prijateljske od neprijateljskih životinja.

It alerts them to our various emotional states,

To ih upozorava na naša emocionalna stanja,

and it can even tell them when someone is pregnant or sick.

a čak im može reći i kada je netko trudan ili bolestan.

Because olfaction is more primal than other senses,

Zbog toga što je njuh primarniji nego druga čula,

bypassing the thalamus to connect directly to the brain structures

i zaobilazi talamus da se poveže izravno s moždanim strukturama

involving emotion and instinct,

koje uključuju osjećaje i instinkt,

we might even say a dog's perception is more immediate and visceral than ours.

mogli bismo reći i da je pseća percepcija neposrednija i instinktivnija nego naša.

But the most amazing thing about your dog's nose

Ali najnevjerojatnija stvar kod nosa Vašeg psa

is that it can traverse time.

je ta što može putovati kroz vrijeme.

The past appears in tracks left by passersby,

Prošlost se javlja u tragovima koje su ostavili prolaznici,

and by the warmth of a recently parked car

i u toplini nedavno parkiranog automobila,

where the residue of where you've been and what you've done recently.

gdje se nalaze ostatci onoga gdje ste bili i što ste nedavno radili.

Landmarks like fire hydrants and trees

Orijentiri poput hidranata i drveća

are aromatic bulletin boards carrying messages of who's been by,

su aromatične oglasne ploče koje nose poruke o tome tko je tu prošao,

what they've been eating,

što je jeo

and how they're feeling.

i kako se osjećao.

And the future is in the breeze,

A budućnost se javlja u povjetarcu,

alerting them to something or someone approaching long before you see them.

upozoravajući ih na nekoga ili nešto što prilazi, puno prije nego što to zaista i vidite.

Where we see and hear something at a single moment,

Mi vidimo i čujemo nešto u jednom trenutku,

a dog smells an entire story from start to finish.

dok pas namiriše čitavu priču od početka do kraja.

In some of the best examples of canine-human collaboration,

U nekima od najboljih primjera suradnje psa i čovjeka,

psi nam pomažu dijeleći i reagirajući na te priče.

dogs help us by sharing and reacting to those stories.

They can respond with kindness to people in distress,

Mogu odgovoriti nježnošću ljudima koji pate,

or with aggression to threats

ili agresivnošću na prijetnje

jer se stres i ljutnja manifestiraju u oblaku hormona

because stress and anger manifest as a cloud of hormones

recognizable to the dog's nose.

prepoznatljivom psećem nosu.

With the proper training,

Uz odgovarajući trening,

they can even alert us to invisible threats

mogu nas upozoriti i na nevidljive prijetnje

ranging from bombs to cancer.

u rasponu od bomba do raka.

As it turns out, humanity's best friend

Izgleda da čovjekov najbolji prijatelj

is not one who experiences the same things we do,

nije onaj koji proživljava iste stvari kao i mi,

but one whose incredible nose reveals a whole other world beyond our eyes.

nego onaj čiji nevjerojatni nos otkriva sasvim novi svijet, nama nevidljiv.