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How do we smell? Why do we smell? Have you ever thought about it? Did you ever smell something that got you hungry, excited, upset, or made you feel that deja vu feeling? We are always worried about our sight, hearing, taste, and touch, but what about our wonderful sense of smell?
The nose is divided in two by the septum. The septum is made up of bone and cartilage. The nose has tiny hairs lining it, called cilia that clean the air you breathe. Other cells in the lining of the nose produce mucus that traps dust and particles in the air you breathe. Specialized receptor cells of the olfactory epithelium detect smells. We, as humans, can distinguish over 10,000 different and distinctive smells. The sense of smell comes through the olfactory nerve, which projects into the nasal passage in the upper part of the nose. The olfactory nerve picks up the scents from the air you breathe and translate them into nerve impulses or messages that are then sent to the olfactory bulb in the brain. The olfactory bulb, located in the front of the brain, communicates the scents to your brain. There are many theories about the exact process of our sense of smell. The general consensus involves a highly specialized process that includes molecular rings and receptors, which incur odorant binging proteins. Odor molecules reach receptors and dissolve in the mucus lining, which is not possible with nasal congestion. Cilia projections of the receptors are found then go through the olfactory tract directly to inferior frontal lobe of the cortex and pass on to the limbic system (the emotional and behavioral links of the brain). This is a very complicated, intricately detailed, and a mysteriously misunderstood system. Your sense of smell strongly affects your sense of taste.
The role of smell is as important to our well-being and to our life as any other part of our body and is equally important as all of our other senses. We get a feel of our surroundings, our happiness, and our lives in general by using all of our senses. For instance, Ansonia, in which a person cannot smell, has been linked to disorders like depression. For us, smell plays an intricate part of our lives, of our sensory world, in the way we act. The process of recognition of a place is accomplished by our sense of smell. Smell evokes emotions such as fear, contentment, even sexuality. Rhinocephelon, or the "smell-brain," is functionally associated with the entire emotional tone of a person. Strong smells affect us physically, giving us a headache or making us nauseous. Our sense of smell can influence mood, physical well-being, memory, emotions, sexual desire, our hormones, and our immune system. That is also why we feel at ease with soothing, familiar smells, get turned on sexually with sensual perfume smells, and get upset and uneasy with foul or harsh smells. That's why it's hard to enjoy the taste of your food if someone is smoking right next to you or if you smell anything putrid while your trying to eat. It is also known that smell invokes memory. Unfortunately how we smell, why we smell and the exact importance of smelling on our everyday lives, is still poorly understood. We certainly underestimate the importance of smell to us in our everyday lives.
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