Science· 2017Q1
Poor human olfaction is a 19th-century myth
- 498citations
- Q1SCImago
- 2017year
Short summary
Human olfaction is not poor; the common belief stems from a 19th-century hypothesis, not empirical data, and humans possess excellent olfactory abilities comparable to or exceeding other mammals for certain odors.
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Key points
- The notion of poor human olfaction is based on a 19th-century hypothesis about brain evolution, not empirical studies.
- The human olfactory bulb is large in absolute size and has a similar neuron count to other mammals.
- Humans can detect and discriminate a wide range of odors.
- Human olfactory sensitivity exceeds that of rodents and dogs for certain odors.
- Human olfactory abilities influence behavioral and affective states.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
It is commonly believed that humans have a poor sense of smell compared to other mammalian species. However, this idea derives not from empirical studies of human olfaction but from a famous 19th-century anatomist's hypothesis that the evolution of human free will required a reduction in the proportional size of the brain's olfactory bulb. The human olfactory bulb is actually quite large in absolute terms and contains a similar number of neurons to that of other mammals. Moreover, humans have excellent olfactory abilities. We can detect and discriminate an extraordinary range of odors, we are more sensitive than rodents and dogs for some odors, we are capable of tracking odor trails, and our behavioral and affective states are influenced by our sense of smell.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Science, 2017 · DOI ↗
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Field: Sensory Systems
Sensory SystemsNeuroscience