The intricate neural wiring that carries smells to the brain locks into place soon after birth, two new mouse studies suggest. The results, published in the April 11 Science, identify a window of time in which the olfactory system can be scrambled. Once that window closes, the network becomes cemented into the brain, even as newborn neurons continuously stitch themselves into the mix.

Odor-detecting neurons in the mouse nose (green and magenta) latch onto certain scents and send signals to precise locations. The neurons each have a diameter of approximately 10 micrometers. (1)

As these neurons, human minds are in general working in a similar way. We understand things by making them fit our own existing little boxes into our mind. We have the receptors ready and only what fits them can register as new knowledge. We smell and think only what we are programmed to be able to smell and think.

The only way to truly think, is to stop thinking!