Monitoring Desk
NEW YORK: In a recent study published in Science, researchers made a groundbreaking discovery about the human sense of smell.
They found that the human nose can distinguish a staggering one trillion different odours, which is significantly higher than the previous estimate of 10,000 scents.
For a long time, experts had suspected that the human sense of smell was capable of perceiving a much larger number of odours, but limited research had been conducted in this area.
To delve deeper into this phenomenon, scientists at Rockefeller University designed scent mixtures containing various components and asked study participants to identify distinct smells when presented with a set where two out of three scents were the same.
The results revealed that when the scents shared more than 51% of components, most participants struggled to tell them apart. Using this data, the researchers calculated the impressive estimate of one trillion detectable smells.
Donald Wilson, an olfactory researcher at New York University School of Medicine, expressed enthusiasm about these findings, hoping that they will shed light on the intricate process of how the nose and brain work together to process smells.
However, many aspects of this process remain a mystery, including the relationship between the number of scent receptors in the human nose (approximately 400 types) and the ability to discriminate between smells. Some scientists speculate that having more receptors may indicate a more sensitive sense of smell.
Another challenge in understanding smell perception is organizing odors into clear categories. Unlike colors or sounds, which follow a distinct continuum, scents don’t have such straightforward relationships between categories.
This complexity makes it difficult to objectively compare intricate scents, like various colognes or fragrances. Despite these challenges, the study opens up new avenues for exploring the fascinating world of our sense of smell.
