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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.
List of contents
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
About the author
Gérard Brand is a lecturer and researcher in Neurosciences at the University of Burgundy - Franche-Comté, France.
Summary
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.
