I recently did a study on scent. I thought I would learn additional fragrance blending methods, taking the skills to the shop with me. I picked up on more than that. Very interesting!
How does a person detect scent? We breathe in tiny molecules that carry scent. The molecules travel through our nose, landing on receptors that are on a direct path to our brain (our olfactory system). No other sense is detected directly by the brain as is the sense of smell!
We are constantly alert to scent, we live by it. We smell food cooking and we get hungry. We smell smoke and we instantly think danger! The nose is always at work.
Scent is closely attached to memory. This experience can be good, and for some, a particular scent brings forward memories that they might particularly want to bury. From a very early age, our memories are glued to particular scents. This, in turn, directly affects our moods!
Walk into a pristine drug store. Have you noticed the scent that wafts past your head as you enter the doors? It is piped in…piped in to make us feel comfortable, taken care of, creating a mood that makes us feel good about buying products from that particular store.
But…scent isn’t just about what our nose smells, nor is it all about memory. It can also bring forward exact physical reactions within our bodies. Essential oils contain types of molecules that our bodies easily process. We breathe in the scent directly from an essential oil, picking up the molecules. The molecules travel to our lungs. A physical process transpires as our lungs begin to absorb what we have inhaled. As we absorb, the physical reaction that occurs is related to the properties of that particular essential oil. Take lavender, for example, calming and relaxing. A safe calm, without drugs. It makes a person think! It also brings forward a good reminder, when working with pure essential oils, know your allergies and special medical conditions.
And lastly, speaking of scent, how does an animal detect our thoughts (such as fear)? They can smell it! Yes, they can. Our noses, as humans, cannot detect subtle hormonal or adrenalyn changes that are released (the odor of our body changes) when we become frightened or excited, but an animal can detect the tiniest of change. When we say animals have a sixth sense, literally, could it be that they simply have a keener sense of smell? It is definitely something to consider!
Annies Goat Hill Handcrafted Soaps 
interesting! isn’t it cool how everything’s connected in our bodies like that? and i love the ‘olfactory’ term.
I appreciate my dog anew. And my nose. And you.
I will walk across the street and deliberately avoid walking past an Abercrombie and Fitch store for just that reason. They pipe that gawdawful “signature scent” through their AC ducts and it billows out the door into the street making you wish you had your handy dandy nuclear war gas mask with you.
And here’s another instinct for ya in addition to smelling fear… Pavlov’s Response! Because every time I see an A&F store, I want to hurl. Kind of rings my puke sensors. LOL!
(They have cute models tho.)
Interesting information.
I’ve always heard that animals can smell our fear. Now I know it’s true.
I have a friend that can tell when someone has an illness by their smell. She hadn’t seen her nephew in a while, and when she hugged him, she sniffed and then told his mother something was wrong. She took him to the doctor and found out he indeed had something wrong (I can’t remember exactly what now). But I found it intriguing.
Interesting post about scent-I never knew most of the info you shared.
Robert, “I appreciate my dog anew. And my nose. And you.” That sounds like a rhyme. I need to get over and visit your site! 🙂
Tracie, that is interesting. As I wrote this post I had an inkling that someone would comment that they knew a human that could smell/detect that type of thing (illness, fear, etc…) . I am not surprised! Interesting.
Alix, cute models? LOL!
This has been a fun topic. I actually hope to learn more and write about it again sometime.
I am gone for a day and you post the most interesting things , so I need to catch up.
I am always intrigued by the way my dogs and cats react to things , and many times over have noted that it must be scent that alerts them to so much.
I have also noticed that scents bring back long forgotten memories…they are just triggered and I will remember something log forgotten, I am wondering if there is research into using scent to re-habilitate people in, or just coming out of coma, and brain injuries….
Kathy, the only research I saw on scent related to health was done on alzheimer’s patients. There are particular scents that they do not pick up on as well as someone that does not have the disease. Researchers are saying that the symptom (lack of detecting certain scents) could lead to an earlier detection of the disease, and leads to further research as well.
I have recently joined a Scent Makerting company based in Hong Kong. I literally fell in love with the concept and I came to realize how powerful my nose was. I wasn’t really aware of it before then. And thanks Mary to contributing new ideas that I’d love to share with my colleague.
The entire scent relationship, how we process it (olfatory, etc…), fascinates me. I find it interesting how we adjust to scent (man-made manufactured vs. natural oils), and how our concept of fragrance/scent, changes once we are exposed to essences and/or study them.
Best wishes, Ben!