Discovering Odors

Often taken for granted, the sense of smell has seldom been discussed or understood. However, since the start of the 20th Century, studies in this area have grown exponentially and today there is a greater understanding of the olfactory system at both structural and functional levels.

Scientists now concern themselves with questions about the holistic nature of our sense of smell and are investigating the role of odors in interpersonal relations, in food intake processes, in the diagnosis of certain illnesses, and many other areas. The beginnings of this knowledge are as fascinating as they are abundant and numerous disciplines are involved: psychology, physiology, genetics, neuroscience, engineering, etc.

This book illustrates and analyzes the current state of advances in research about the smells around us, and the way in which they influence our relationship with the world.

Auteur
Gerard Brand is a lecturer and researcher in Neurosciences at the University of Burgundy - Franche-Comte, France.

Contenu

Preface ix

Chapter 1. Dr. Følling's Flair: Discovery of Phenylketonuria by Smell 1

Chapter 2. A Nobel Prize for the Nose and Retraction in Science 5

Chapter 3. Sperm and Lily of the Valley 9

Chapter 4. Vibrational Theory and the Astonishing Story of Researcher Luca Turin 13

Chapter 5. The Famous Madeleines: The Proust Phenomenon, a Scientific Spoliation? 17

Chapter 6. The Smell of Rain 21

Chapter 7. The Neanderthal Nose 25

Chapter 8. Mr. and Mrs. Kallmann Have a Son: When Losing Your Nose and Losing Your Gonads Go Hand in Hand 29

Chapter 9. Whiplash, or Losing Your Sense of Smell Following a Head Injury 33

Chapter 10. Phantom Odors 37

Chapter 11. These Odors That Make Your Head Hurt 41

Chapter 12. The Sleeper's Nose 45

Chapter 13. Surströmming: The Worst Odor in the World? 49

Chapter 14. It Smells Like Cheese 53

Chapter 15. What Fennel Reveals to Us 57

Chapter 16. Mustard Goes Up My Nose and Onions Make Me Cry: Discovering a Third Unknown Chemical Sense 61

Chapter 17. Lavender at the Dentist: Aromatherapy, a Myth or a Reality? 65

Chapter 18. Catnip and Pregnant Women: Some Variations in Sensitivity to Odors 69

Chapter 19. If You Eat Too Much Fat, You Will Lose Your Sense of Smell 73

Chapter 20. Experts' Noses 77

Chapter 21. Filled with Smells 81

Chapter 22. Obesity and Chocolate 85

Chapter 23. The Nose on the Plate: A Difficult Scientific Consensus 89

Chapter 24. The Smell of a Hot Croissant: When Our Sense of Smell Nibbles Away at Our Free Will 93

Chapter 25. The Dog That Sniffs Out Cancer 97

Chapter 26. Smells to Cure Cancer? 101

Chapter 27. A Depressed Patient's Nose 105

Chapter 28. Gogol's Nose or Empty Nose Syndrome 109

Chapter 29. She Smells Parkinson's 113

Chapter 30. And What Does Parkinson's Smell Like? 117

Chapter 31. Alzheimer's Nose: Losing Sense of Smell and Losing Memory, the Same Story? 121

Chapter 32. The Smell of Old People 125

Chapter 33. The Smell of Death 129

Chapter 34. Red Meat, Garlic and Sex Appeal 133

Chapter 35. Tears and Desire: Stop Crying, it Doesn't Turn Me On Anymore 137

Chapter 36. With a Bad Nose, Comes a Poor Flirt 141

Chapter 37. It's All in the Sweat 143

Chapter 38. The Smell of Fear 147

Chapter 39. What Epigenetics Owes to the Nose: How Fear Learned From an Odor can be Transmitted to Offspring 151

Chapter 40. Odor and Pain 155

Chapter 41. Odorology 159

Chapter 42. On the Trail of Odors 163

Chapter 43. The Electronic Nose 167

Chapter 44. The Plane Nose: The Methods of the Fraunhofer-Institut für Bauphysik to Get Up in the Air 171

Chapter 45. The Gender of the Nose 175

Chapter 46. The Newborn's Nose 179

Chapter 47. The Smell of a Handshake 183

Chapter 48. The Nose and Perfumes 187

Chapter 49. Odors A Hobby? 191

Chapter 50. Tell Me What You Smell, I'll Tell You Who You Are, But Not Where You Come From: On Genetic Variations in Odor Perception 195

Conclusion 199

References 201

Index 223