From an evolutionary point of view, we typically don’t think of the nose as very important, but it is stuck square in the middle of the face. Why would something that was less relevant to normal activities be so prominent? It implies there is something more important there than we may have realized indeed, scientists are learning that fragrance affects us more than previously thought. New research indicates that smells may influence our minds, our moods and our bodies. But smell remains one of the least understood senses.

Although we know a great deal about the eyes and ears, we only partly understand smell. We so know that an odor is first detected by the olfactory epithelium, a sort of receptor sheet located in the nose. This starts a chain of events that leads to an information flow to the olfactory bulb and to the limbic system of the brain, which plays a key role in regulating body functions and the emotions.

Although it is not clear exactly how fragrance works, truck drivers, even passenger-car drivers, who need to keep alert while traveling long distances, could find it helpful.

 Scent secrets from the lab
Even when you are sleeping, your nose is wide awake. What we have determined is that we respond to odors in sleep. Subjects are able to detect odors, typically their heart rate would increase slightly and their brain waves quicken slightly.

It is discovered that most odors disrupt sleep. Can any fragrance enhance it? Not disruptive, and might be somewhat beneficial.

One of the reasons taking trips to forests make us feel so good is the presence of the mixture of molecules in pine, equally important, if not more important, may be the absence of all these other molecules we’re not consciously aware our nose is picking up smog molecules, gasoline, carpet, paint which are often putting a great strain on our nervous system.

So-called sick building as an example, they inhibit the circulation of fresh air, so people instead breathe a veritable soup of man-made chemicals. The idea is that the nose can detect those molecules and that that information is fed to the brain and does activate brain centers to make us feel queasy or uncomfortable. Yet we would not be able to attribute it to any scent we are aware of. Aromas can control undergoing magnetic resonance imaging.

In MRI, you are put into a small cylinder, inside a big machine that is a 12-by-12-foot cube, you have to remain in there as much as an hour and a half and you are not supposed to move. People have claustrophobic reactions, anxiety and panic attacks.

With these and other experiments in progress, it is clear that the study of scent is positively blossoming. It is definitely on the increase. We have learned a lot, but we are a long way from fully understanding smell. We are still on a great adventure.