It is not true that humans have little smell

2017/05/11 Agirre Ruiz de Arkaute, Aitziber - Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Medikuntza

Neuroscientist John McGann has recently stated in the journal Science that, despite being convinced that humans have a little smell from dogs and other animals, it is just a myth. The one responsible for this bad myth is the prestigious brain surgeon Paul Broca. He discovered that smell occupies proportionally less space in the brain than in other animals, which related it to poor smell. For McGann, however, this does not show that we have worse smell, as the number of neurons in the olfactory bulb is similar.

McGann believes that we have believed culturally that to be a rational person cannot depend on smell, somehow we would rise to other animals. But in his opinion, humans have the ability to distinguish a billion odors, like other mammals, and the olfactory bulb is organized in 5,600 glomeruli, much more than mice (1,800). The analysis of the influence that genes, neurogenesis and other factors may have on odour sensitivity has shown that each species is more sensitive to certain odors. “Dogs can be better than humans in the separation of urine and perhaps humans in the separation of odors from wines.”

According to the researcher, smell is very important, since it influences human behavior: even if it is unconsciously, it influences a lot how others perceive us, in our relationship with others, when we choose the couple, in what we will eat, etc. It is a characteristic that hides us very strongly in memory, and smells easily remind us of memories and emotions.

Moreover, McGann states that some studies have shown that the onset of smell loss may be a sign of the onset of memory problems, such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, and that doctors should reflect on the importance of smell.