More on Endorphin Branding™ and the Proustian Effect

Frequent visitors to this site are no strangers to the Proustian Effect, that infamous literary reference to the power of scent in retrieving memories which lies at the heart of Endorphin Branding™. Likewise, we learned conclusively from this recent German study that our ever-vigilant sense of smell does not sleep when we do. The next logical question to Whiffologists is an obvious one: Can a Proustian memory be created within an unconscious mind?

In a controlled study at Duke University Medical Center, neuroscientists Stephen Shea and Richard Read more

Why We “Change Our Minds”

Scientists have known for some time that adult brains continue to create new nerve cells, but the reason for this has never been clear, until a recent study demonstrated that mature brains need this continuous fresh supply in order to sustain functions like smelling and memory.

After researchers at Japan’s Institute for Virus Research in Kyoto University found a way to identify new cells by inserting a fluorescent protein into adult mice, they discovered that–within the course of a year–almost all nerve cells in the olfactory bulbs had been replaced with new ones. The hippocampus, linked to memory and learning, also showed a number of new nerve cells. A second group of adult Read more

Sweet Dreams are Made of Sniffs

It’s no secret that what we hear while we sleep, deprived of visual stimuli, is often incorporated into our dreams. A euphoric dream fueled by the sound of ocean waves and soft music can take a nightmarish turn for the worse if a wailing siren or barking dog enters the equation. But what about that that other sense which, like hearing, does not rest when we do? Does what we smell while we sleep have the power to guide our dreams?
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Harnessing the Smell of Fear

The release of “alarm molecules” is a subject has been well-researched and well-documented over the years. In Chapter 6 of Whiff!, we learn that “animals experiencing stress and fear produce chemical warning signals that can lead to behavioral and physiological responses in members of the same species. For instance, if a herd member were under attack, the animal would release a scented fear message to the others, warning the entire herd to flee as fast as dominoes may fall.” But what part of the olfactory system of the animal on the receiving end is responsible for detecting this crucial chemical message? The same component which allows them to perceive and identify odorants? Or maybe the vomeronasal organ which serves to detect sexual pheromones?

Neither, confirms a recently-concluded study from the University of Lausanne in Switzerland. It’s a third subsystem of the olfactory system, the Grueneberg ganglion, which is responsible for detection of “fear Read more

Paternal In-stinks

Innumerable studies have explored the olfactory bonding between new moms and their babies, but what about new dads? Are they geared to think with their olfactory organs, with respect to their own offspring?

Absolutely, according to a new study by the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center at University of Wisconsin-Madison, at least in the case of lower primates. A whiff of his own little tyke will cause a marmoset father’s testosterone levels to drop off, lowering both his tendency toward aggressive behavior and his interest in philandering.

“Essentially, this encourages the father to be there for the child,” says WNPRC staff scientist Dr. Toni Ziegler, whose team conducted the study by isolating experienced male marmoset fathers from their families, then exposing them to either the scent of their own infants or a control scent. Males with no experience as parents were exposed to the same odors. Blood tests taken within 20 minutes of exposure revealed a significant decline in testosterone in every single one of the experienced dads presented with the odor of their own offspring, while the bachelor marmosets were completely indifferent. “We were a little surprised to see testosterone alter like that,” admits Ziegler. “This shows the male is responsive to chemical cues from his infants.”

Testosterone is the most abundant male hormone in primates, including humans. And marmosets, small South American monkeys, were a prime-primate choice for the experiment because they, like humans, tend to place nearly as much parental responsibility on the father as the mother.

A Proactive Approach to Parkinson’s Disease

The University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test (UPSIT) is the most widely used–and useful–clinical olfactory test in the world. Developed and practiced at the university’s renowned Smell and Taste Center, the UPSIT consists of four booklets containing ten microencapsulated odors, each accompanied by four possible responses from which the participant is asked to choose. Studies using the UPSIT have positively linked olfactory dysfunction to a variety of causes ranging from head trauma and respiratory infection to neurological disorders like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. The value of the test in Read more

Sniffing Out Genetic Risk Markers

Olfactory defects may indicate a genetic predisposition to schizophrenia, even in the absence of any other symptoms, according to a study concluded last month at the University of Pennsylvania.

Bruce Turetsky and his team made the astonishing discovery that the olfactory bulbs of first-degree relatives of schizophrenia patients are smaller in volume than those of individuals with no family history of the disease. When the scientists compared the brain activity of 14 unaffected direct relatives of schizophrenia patients against a 20-subject control group, they discovered significant impairment of scent detection and identification in the first group.

“While these findings must be considered preliminary,” concluded the researchers, “they are consistent with the conclusion that neurophysiological disturbances in the olfactory system may be sensitive endophenotypic markers (characteristics that reflect the actions of genes predisposing an individual to a disorder) of genetic vulnerability to schizophrenia.”

How Well Do You Smell?

Knowing whether or not you smell good isn’t so tricky. As a rule of thumb, if humans display an obvious aversion to your armpits and dogs display an obvious interest in them, it may be time to break out the Mister Bubble. But knowing whether or not you smell well is another matter. As with vision and hearing, the sense of smell is subjective. With no point of reference, an individual is unable to perceive a decline in these senses.

Dr. Allen Seiden is part of a team currently testing the Olfactory Function Assessment with Computerized Testing machine (OLFACT), which objectively measures an individual’s ability to smell. The machine emits a scent through a tube beneath the patient’s nose then prompts him to identify the scent on a computer screen. “It’s basically plumbing, just blowing into the air are odorized vials that contain the odorant, and that contains all the different smells the patients have to smell,” says design specialist and OLFACT creator Lloyd Hastings.

The new machine, expected to be marketed soon for nationwide use, may prove every bit as valuable as those already in mainstream use for testing vision and hearing. Not only do we rely on our noses to enhance our sense of taste, to alert us to danger, and Read more

When we Smell, we Feel

Scent Marketers coined the term “Proustian Effect” to describe the nostalgic recall triggered by odor in homage to French author Marcel Proust, whose novel Remembrance of Things Past was the first to explicitly link smell to memory. For Proust, it was the aroma of madeleine cakes which summoned up pleasant memories of his childhood. For another, it might be pipe tobacco or lavender sachet, and the reaction might be a vivid mental image or a simple shift in mood. Whatever the trigger, and whatever our individual conditioned response, smell is the most direct expressway to our brains, leaving all other senses in the dust.

When the other senses (sight, sound, taste, touch) reach our receptive centers, they are first routed through the interpretive reasoning centers of the left brain, needing to be identified and assimilated before circuitously making it to the emotional centers which tell us how we feel about the information. But when the olfactory bulb detects a smell—while we are eating, drinking, making love, having an emotional experience, or simply shopping for shoes—it alerts the cerebral cortex and sends a chemical message directly into the limbic system of the right brain, before any left-brain analysis can muddy the waters.