Emotion Sharpens Our Sense of Smell

Emotion can sharpen your sense of smell when something bad happens, say researchers at Northwestern University. Emotion and smell have long been linked. A scent can often trigger memories of an event or person. However, the Northwestern research shows that our awareness of odors and their association with an event increases significantly when the event evokes strong emotions.

Research subjects were asked to smell and identify sets of laboratory chemicals. In each set, two of the odors were identical, the third similar but slightly different. Subjects were able to pick out the dissimilar odor about one-third of the time. Subjects were then given a mild electric shock when they smelled only the odd chemical. When the test was repeated, they were able to identify the dissimilar odor 70% of the time.

MRI scans showed that the brain stored the scent in its main olfactory region, imprinting it and allowing for faster identification. In other words, the brain is able to sniff out threats. Researchers hope this will lead to a better understanding of post-traumatic stress syndrome disorders.