Smell

The Senses: Smell and Taste

Smell and taste are the oldest of the senses. They are essential for survival, having evolved to play key roles in such basic processes as feeding, mating, and avoiding danger.

Senses: Smell and Taste

Expose Your Nose, Grades K-5

A Link Between Sense of Smell and Spatial Memory

As Alzheimer’s disease progresses, it disrupts both navigation and olfaction; scientists are starting to tease out why, which might help them find an early-indicator test for people at risk.

A Smell Test for Parkinson’s Disease?

The observation that many people with Parkinson’s have diminished sense of smell has led researchers to develop simple sniff tests to help diagnose the disorder.

Olfaction: Smell of Change in the Air

Scientists studying smell have not only provided compelling evidence that it’s more sophisticated than previously thought, but believe that the sense of smell impacts our mood and behavior and has the potential to detect and treat some neurological disorders.

A Rose by Any Other Name: How Our Sense of Smell Influences Cognition

New studies suggest how smell predictions and reactions can affect memory and thought processing.

Ah, Sweet Skunk! Why We Like or Dislike What We Smell

A Brown University psychology professor who became enchanted with the smell of skunk as a little girl mounts a compelling argument that nothing smells great, and nothing stinks, but experience makes it so.