We all have what we know as the 5 senses, unless there is some congenital abnormality that prevents any of these senses from being adequately developed, but globally we can all see, hear, feel, taste and perceive odors.
This last sense is very particularly developed in some animals such as dogs, which are very well known for this sense and in fact it is often used as a tool for the detection of some substances in airports and other places with an influx of people.
In humans this sense is particularly one of the most used, and it conditions to a great extent what we eat, even the way in which we can relate to other people.
We can perceive odors that are pleasant for everyone, while some that are unpleasant for other people, for us are not at all, that is, we have a great subjective conditioning in the way we perceive odors, and we could even say that there is an emotional component in all this.
And it is not for less, the olfactory cells, located in the nose, are nerve cells specialized in the perception of microparticles and interpret them, then transform them into a language that can be understood by the nervous system, to determine which smell specifically is within the great variety that is registered in the memory.
It is a really complex process, but if you want me to make a publication explaining it, I would be happy to do it later.
A particularity of this sense is that it is the one that reaches our mind the fastest, for being the least complex of all in terms of the transmission of the message to the central nervous system, and for this reason it arrives quickly to our brain, for its processing.
We could calmly say that it is the most primitive of all the senses, and for this reason it awakens in us something a little animal so to speak. This is the reason why some perfumes are particularly pleasant and appealing to our sense of smell, because the primitive prevails.
But there is another particularity in this sense and it is the rapid adaptation to smells *Have you noticed that at the first moment of contact with a smell, even if it is unpleasant, the first impression is one of discomfort, but after a few minutes the discomfort you felt because of that smell has diminished?
Surely if it has happened to you, and you know what I am talking about, this is very particular to this sense, and has to do with a saturation process in the olfactory cells, which stop transmitting the smell information to our brain after a few minutes.
Other particularities of the olfactory system, which are abnormalities or disorders in its function, and which fortunately are not so common, are the following:
Anosmia: This was well known in the pandemic, because it was one of the consequences of infection by Covid, which consists in the loss of smell. The person is unable to perceive odors, and therefore the ability to taste is also affected.
Hyposmia: in this case we speak of a decrease in the ability to perceive odors.
Fantosmia: this abnormality is expressed as the perception of odors that are not present in the environment. This is very confusing, because a person can perceive the smell of flowers, for example, and there are none nearby.
Cacosmia: the person can perceive and even prefers foul smells, which for other people could be nauseating.
These are some of the most common, but as I said before, they are not common. I hope you have enjoyed this publication and that it serves to understand a little better our sense of smell.
Other publications that might be of interest to you:
Understanding Infections / Bacteria and Viruses
Understanding Infections / Part One
Soon I will share the third part of this series regarding what infections are.
Links consulted
Olfaction
The Specific Characteristics of the Sense of Smell
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I swear I read somewhere that the 5 senses was a myth. Maybe it is just an oversimplification, since we have many more senses.
From the scientific medical point of view, yes, there are 5 that are studied in the medical career, which are touch, smell, taste, sight and hearing. Their anatomical structure, function, relationship with the nervous system, among many other things, are studied.
However, based on what you say, it depends on the approach that is made, because we could say, according to some studies that there are more than 10 or 20, for example: proprioception, vestibular, which is also in the ear, it helps us to locate ourselves and gives us balance, sense of temperature, but this could be included in touch, however, there are literatures that put it aside. As well as these, we have many more, but in this specific case of the publication I refer to the 5 classics. Thank you very much for your intelligent comment.
Thanks for your clarifying response!
Fantosmia!!! I use to call that olfactory hallucinations. I noticed that during pregnancy my wife sense of smell increased excessively. To an extent where I won't be able to smell anything, while she could I think smell even micro levels of odor. I often often jokingly say, damn there is nothing I could find there, have you been all of a sudden gifted with heightened sense or smell or there is such thing as olfactory hallucinations. Turns out that females tend to have their olfactory senses on alert during pregnancy. So while that is not particularly "fantosmia", what I am keen to know if fantosmia is also commonly seen in psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia or bipolar?
This is a very intelligent comment @sciencieblocks, and one that adds value to the post. Olfactory hallucinations are another way we could call phantosmia, or vice versa, because in the end they are practically the same thing.
The detail is that these olfactory hallucinations can appear in people who do not have any type of psychiatric problem.
But in the case of psychiatric patients, in the more specific case of schizophrenia, where hallucinations of all kinds are normal, it is very common to see olfactory hallucinations, although what predominates are visual and auditory ones.
In bipolar disorder we could find hallucinations, of course, especially in the stage of greater emotional excitement of the patient, in the manic stage.
What you comment on the increase of your wife's sense is normal, women have the tendency to increase sensitivity in all its aspects, and considering that the sense of smell is a rather primitive organ, I must point out that it was very important in our ancestors, to be able to perceive dangers long before having them close, perhaps that particularity is preserved since ancient times, but it is interesting.
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