Sense of Smell and Taste Related?

New Research Shows Smells Stimulate Different Areas of the Brain

Many may have heard before that much of what we “taste” when eating or drinking actually comes from what we smell. New research from the University of Dresden and Yale University has recently revealed that not only are taste and smell intimately mingled, but smells actually stimulate different areas of the brain when they are experienced through the nostrils versus when they are experienced through the mouth. According to researchers, the human sense of smell is very powerful.

For example, someone may say he or she likes a wine because it tastes “spicy” or “fruity” when really the tongue can only taste five different things – sour, sweet, savory, salty, and bitter – none of which are “spicy” or “fruity.” Thusly, the pleasant “tastes” of the wine actually refer to the pleasant smell that is sensed through the mouth. These tests the researchers completed looked at how the brain reacts when smells are experienced in the mouth and when they are experienced in the nose.

During their study, researchers inserted small tubes into the subjects’ nostrils, as well as into the nasal passages near the throat. Once the tubes were inserted, researchers introduced smells including chocolate and lavender into the tubes and monitored activity in the brain. They looked specifically at the differences in brain activity when the smells were introduced to the nostrils and when they were introduced to the nasal passages located near the throat.

While the study was being conducted, researchers observed that the smell of chocolate introduced through the nose created a different stimulation (or caused activity in different areas of the brain) compared to when that same smell was introduced through the mouth and throat. The smell of lavender had the same type of effect (meaning different activity occurred in different areas of the brain) when introduced in the different areas as the chocolate smell did but not to the same degree of intensity.

Researchers believe the smells from food like chocolate provoke specific responses associated with eating when they are experienced through the mouth as opposed to when they are experienced through the nose. They theorize that the differences between these experiences are less distinct for those smells that are not food related. Researchers also said it is possible that the route of the stimulation may have different effects for food smells and non-food smells.

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