OUR NOSE AND SENSE OF SMELL HELPS US TO ENJOY EACH DAY BUT ALSO MAY SAVE OUR LIFE

Every day we are alive we inhale twenty three thousand times and exhale twenty three thousand times. With each of those breaths we perceive the chemicals in the air around us. They are from a rose maybe, the smell from a lovers neck crook as you nestle in it, that cake baking in mom’s oven, dirt, mold, decay, everything around you. But how much do we know about this most ancient of the senses? The function of the nose, we know is to filter, warm, and humidify the air that we breathe. But what happens after that is terribly complex. It involves receptors in the nose with nerve connections directly to the brain, and this is considered the earliest of our senses. Then the transmitted senses are interpreted and after that many things happen. For instance that memory is stored in our mind, maybe forever. As well, there may be an emotional reaction which can lead to a physical reaction. This can even involve a sick and retching feeling.

The odors we perceive can trigger joy and even rage. They can bring us to tears, make our hearts flutter or incite us to terror. Professor Rachel Herz PhD is considered the preeminent expert in the world on the study of this one sense, smell. She teaches at Brown University but consults around the world on the psychology of our olfactory sense and also helps commercial interests to develop products that sell by the smell they emit. Her newest book “The Sense of Desire” introduces lay people to this science and study.

She tells us often that our earliest ancestor’s sense of smell wasn’t just important, it was crucial to their survival. She goes on that our emotional and even sexual lives are profoundly influenced and shaped by our noses and what we smell around us. There is so much more for us to learn about this ancient facility, and her studies along with others will ultimately lead us to exciting conclusions and even treatments for some of the ailments we are bothered by. We can hope so.