smell

Researchers at Harvard University (United States) have created modified mice that can "smell" light. By studying their brain they have managed to better understand the neural bases of smell and how we distinguish some smells from others.

Roses certainly smell better than rotten fish. But the brain detects the smell of the latter with more speed and acuity, according to a study carried out by American and Canadian scientists and published in the journal 'Biological Psychology'.

Until now it was believed that whales and dolphins had no sense of smell. However, a study published in the journal Marine Mammal Science has just shown otherwise. As Professor Hans Thewissen of Northeastern Ohio University College of Medicine has discovered, dissecting the brain cavities of a Greenland whale, These animals have a large and developed olfactory bulb.

We discover five strange pathologies that affect our senses and that mainly have their origin in the brain: anosmia, motion blindness, ageusia, achromatoagnosia and Riley-Day syndrome. The five senses: taste, touch, sight, smell and hearing.

Scientists at Yale University have identified more than two dozen olfactory receptors in malaria-transmitting mosquitoes that specialize in detecting substances present in human sweat. By canceling out this "bloodhound smell" that leads insects to their victims, scientists predict that this disease, which kills one million people every year, could be effectively combated, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Japanese scientists have just shown that the smell of lemon, mango, lavender and other fragrances of plant origin modifies the activity of genes and blood chemistry in such a way that stress levels are reduced.

Before going to sleep, make sure your nose can rest easy. According to a new study, the smells we perceive at night influence our dreams.

These crawling animals have a well-developed nervous system and an intermediate intelligence that could be placed between that of fish and that of mammals....