Introduction: Neurological studies have greatly contributed to expanding our knowledge of how words are processed in the brain. To enhance the tangibility of words, efforts have consistently been made to explore their connection with the perception of various senses. Although studies on the verbalization of the sense of smell in Persian vocabulary, specifically metaphors, still require a better understanding. Therefore, this study aims to investigte the neural representation of olfactory words in the conceptual metaphors related to the sense of smell.
Methods: A database comprising forty-eight sentences featuring olfactory metaphors and forty-eight literal sentences was created. Brain activity during the processing of these sentences was examined using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Twenty-six healthy, right-handed women aged 20 to 35 participated in the study. 
Results: The statistical comparison between the brain function during exposure to metaphors and literal sentences indicated that only during the processing of metaphors, the areas of the secondary sense of smell show activities in sensory-motor and perceptual representations. Recent studies have also shown that the orbitofrontal cortex, a secondary olfactory area, integrates information from olfactory, gustatory, and visual modalities.
Conclusion: Statistical analyses revealed that metaphor processing, unlike literal sentences, activated sensory-motor and perceptual regions associated with secondary olfactory processing. Notably, activation of the orbitofrontal cortex, responsible for integrating olfactory, gustatory, and visual information, was observed. However, no significant activity was detected in primary olfactory areas, possibly due to the absence of hedonic content in the metaphorical sentences. These findings offer insights into the neural mechanisms underlying olfactory metaphor processing in Persian.