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smell

·April 17, 2025·4 min read

Scent Signals Friendship: How Smell Shapes First Impressions

A new study reveals that women can subconsciously judge potential friendship compatibility based on scent during first-time meetings. Researchers found that a person’s everyday odor—captured on a worn T-shirt—predicted how much they were liked after short face-to-face conversations.

This shows a woman in a garden smelling flowers from a cherry blossom tree

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·August 3, 2022·3 min read

Smells Experienced in Nature Evoke Positive Well-being

The smell of fresh cut grass or blooming flowers appears to have a positive effect on a person's overall well-being, a new study reveals. Researchers say the smells of nature can help boost psychological well-being.

This shows a woman in a facemask holding a flower

Featured Neurology Neuroscience

·April 10, 2022·6 min read

A Way to Prevent Loss of Smell and Taste From COVID-19

Camostat mesylate, an oral medication commonly prescribed to treat pancreatitis, reduces both the loss of smell and taste in those with COVID-19 infection.

Featured Genetics Neuroscience

·February 23, 2022·6 min read

Gene Allowing Humans to Feel Touch May Play a Role in Sense of Smell

A gene commonly associated with the sense of touch may also play an important role in the sense of smell, researchers report.

Featured Neuroscience

·January 11, 2022·4 min read

The Surprisingly Simple Arithmetic of Smell

The mechanisms behind olfaction may be far simpler than previously believed, researchers speculate.

Featured Neuroscience Neuroscience Videos

·December 22, 2021·5 min read

Neurons in the Olfactory Cortex Link Smells to Places

Neurons in the primary olfactory cortex play a role in encoding spatial maps, a new study reports.

This shows a drawing of a nose and flowers

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·March 4, 2020·4 min read

How smell, emotion, and memory are intertwined, and exploited

Researchers explore how certain scents often elicit specific emotions and memories in people, and how marking companies are manipulating the link for branding.

Featured Genetics Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles

·May 31, 2019·4 min read

Intranasal stem cell therapy restores smell in mice

The sense of smell has been restored to mice suffering olfactory problems with the aid of stem cell therapies. The findings provide the basis for transitional research to see whether intranasal stem cell treatments can be beneficial for those who have lost their sense of smell.

Featured Genetics Neuroscience

·April 30, 2019·5 min read

Do you smell what I smell?

Small changes in a single olfactory receptor gene can affect how strong, or how pleasant, a person finds a particular odor.

This shows a person licking an ice cream

Featured Neuroscience

·April 24, 2019·4 min read

Smelling with your tongue: Functional olfactory receptors in human taste center identified

Functional olfactory receptors have been identified in human taste cells. The findings suggest olfactory receptors play a role in the taste system by interacting with taste receptors on the tongue. The brain, researchers say, combines input from taste, smell and other senses to create a multi-modal sensation of flavor.