The Nose is a vital part of the 5 senses humans have. Many could argue it is the least vital to a persons life, but it is a vital part to help as put into frame the world around us and our environment. All parts of the body can somehow be all tied back to the brain and the Nose is no exception.
First of all to understand the Nose we need to know what we are actually smelling. Smell comes in the form of tiny molecules released by the substances around us. After we breath in these molecules, they stimulate sensory cells deep inside the nose. Everyone of these cells only has one odor receptor. Even though there are limited odor receptors compared to molecules, molecules can stimulate multiple receptors causing a unique smell for each substance.
Since information of a scent is being sent to many different parts of the brain we can be affected by scent a lot more than you realize. Smell can affect our memory, mood, and emotion. Most people can see how it can affect your mood or emotion, but it is interesting that it also affects memory. That is why fragrant plants have been used in a lot of eastern medicine and healing practices. This is know as Aromatherapy, which many times uses oils or herbs or even flowers. There is no solid evidence of this being affected, but it is still use all over.
Most people don’t even know that they have an smell dysfunction. In Adults 12% have been found to have some sort of a smell dysfunction and this number jumps up to around 39% in people over 80. This can cause a lot more issues than it seems. People who lost their smell tend to enjoy food less causing them to add more salt and sugar which can lead to other health issues. 1 in 10 people can not recognize the smell of smoke. Which can be very detrimental in certain situations.
Smell is very important to our everyday lives, and has more diverse effects than people realize. The Nose communicates with our Brain to deliver a recognition of the world around us. All parts of the body lead to the brain and the Nose follows.
Works Cited
“What Your Nose Knows.” National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 6 May 2020, newsinhealth.nih.gov/2016/08/what-your-nose-knows.
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