Transcript The Sense of Smell

A few interesting facts about Smell
• In another study – a consumer test of shampoos – a
shampoo which participants ranked last on general
performance in an initial test, was ranked first in a
second test after its fragrance had been altered. In
the second test, participants said that the shampoo
was easier to rinse out, foamed better and left the
hair more glossy. Only the fragrance had been
changed.
• There is also evidence to suggest that what you think
you’re smelling affects your response to an odor. In
2001, Herz and von Clef found that participants
rated an identical odor as more pleasant when it was
presented with a positive label (“parmesan cheese”)
rather than a negative label (“vomit”).
A few interesting facts about Smell
• Smell is extremely important when it comes to
attraction between two people. Research has
shown that our body odour can help us
subconsciously choose our partners. Kissing is
thought by some scientists to have developed
from sniffing; that first kiss being essentially a
primal behaviour during which we smell and
taste our partner to decide if they are a match.
• The mood-improving effects of pleasant smells
may not always work to our advantage: by
enhancing our positive perceptions and
emotions, pleasant scents can cloud our
judgement. In an experiment in a Las Vegas
casino, the amount of money gambled in a slot
machine increased by over 45% when the site
was odorised with a pleasant aroma!
- Smell is a chemical
sense
- Air carrying
aromas is inhaled
through mouth or
nose
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Odour molecules get trapped in mucus
The molecules “open” certain olfactory receptors on
the olfactory neurons
- People have about 450 different types of receptors
the receptors are like locks and the keys are the odour
molecules
- only certain molecule unlock certain receptors
This is a very complex process
- Smell is unique among the
senses
- Olfactory receptors send
signals to the olfactory bulb
- Smell info then directed to
- THALAMUS (like the
switchboard operator of
your brain)
- AMYGDALA (seat of
emotions)
- HIPPOCAMPUS (key to
memory)
- CORTEX (higher thoughts)
• Our sense of smell is 10,000 times more
sensitive than any other of our senses and
recognition of smell is immediate. Other senses
like touch and taste must travel through the
body via neurons and the spinal cord before
reaching the brain whereas the olfactory
response is immediate, extending directly to the
brain. This is the only place where our central
nervous system is directly exposed to the
environment.
• This is what makes smell so powerful. We don’t
have time to analyse it. Other senses such as
sight and sound are processed by the cognitive
centres in the brain. Smell bypasses these and
goes straight to the core of our being.