Humans have a long history of ignoring the abilities of their noses, even Darwin said that the sense of smell is "too small of service" to humans.
In fact, we gather a lot of information from smelling the body odor of the people around us: we can recognize our relatives, tell who is genetically related, and identify potential friends (we tend to choose friends who are genetically similar with us and have a similar body odor). In one study, most new mothers could identify their baby by smell after just 10 minutes of time together, and the babies could also recognize their mother. Meanwhile, adults can match pairs of identical twins through body odor , even if they live apart.
Sensitivity to the smell of others: Recognizing feelings through smell
If we were to talk to someone who is feeling happy, it is possible to detect his emotional state through the smells that reach the nose. In an experiment conducted in the Netherlands, volunteers watched happy videos while wearing absorbent pads under their armpits. Later, when another group smelled the fabrics, measures of facial muscle activity showed that their mood also improved: the smile muscles moved more.
However, it's not just happy feelings that can be communicated through body odor. A 2020 study by Pause and her colleagues showed that women's brains responded more strongly when they smelled the sweat of men who had played a highly competitive game, compared to the smell of men who had played a quiet game.
It turned out that women were also particularly sensitive to smells that signaled anxiety in men. When they caught these winds, the women became more restless and indecisive. "Anxiety is a signal of 'Please, I need help,'" says Pause. She believes that this may explain why women are more susceptible to the smell of anxiety, historically, in stressful situations, women were the ones who took care of the young and the weak. Evolutionary connections may also explain why women with more sensitive noses perform better on empathy tests, as a small 2022 study by Pause and her colleagues found.
Odor recognition and social connections: The importance of olfaction
In general, a sensitive nose seems to be an asset that improves our social life. Those who could better distinguish everyday smells also reported less loneliness, a 2020 study of 221 volunteers concluded.
In other experiments, people with a more developed sense of smell had a wider social network and more friends, and they met with these friends more often.
For now, however, the mechanisms of exactly how humans pick up body odors and translate them into changes in our behaviors remain largely a mystery. Scientists are also beginning to identify which chemicals in body odor may be responsible for affecting social bonding. One of these molecules may be hexanal, which emits a pleasant smell of freshly cut grass and appears to increase confidence in humans. However, we still don't know whether those with more hexanal in their body odor are perceived as more trustworthy, says Monique Smeets, a social psychologist at Utrecht University in the Netherlands.
So, after all, the expression "I know it by smell" was taken in the first sense of the word!
Suggested Articles:
