A Nose Dive Into The World Of Noses

We all have noses, yet some noses are more special than others. No one size fits all. The human nose is more than just a prominent facial feature. Let's dive into the marvel of the nose, a small but mighty organ that shapes our connection to the world.

Our nose is a gateway to the world of smells. Humans can detect over a trillion smells that impact our appetite, memory, and mood. Scents lure us toward our favorite foods or send us fleeing from a skunk. 

When we have a cold, our nose feels stuffy, and the food feels bland, indicating how essential smell is for enhancing flavor. Our nose truly holds the key to making every meal an aromatic adventure.

Maternal bonding, mating, territorial defenses, and modulation of behavior are the cues that rely on olfaction.

Only volatile substances release odor into the air as particulate matter. Our sense of smell can distinguish thousands of odors, yet categorizing them by chemical structure or molecular shape is challenging. A trained person can identify several categories including ethereal (like wine) aromatic (camphor or menthol)), balsamic (violet or vanilla), alliaceous (garlic, iodine), ambrosial, empyreumatic (tar coffee from heating organic matter hircine (sweat), repulsive (pyridine, opium), and vile such as (feces or decaying material)

Noses is a term widely used for the experts in the perfume industry.

Each fragrance has its unique aroma. It is hard to imagine creating and identifying perfumes without the expertise gained from years of experiencing a wide range of aromas. This is the incredible capability of our sense of smell.

Creating and identifying perfumes requires expertise built from years of experiencing countless aromas—a true testament to the remarkable power of our sense of smell.

A person can portray moods, emotions, and concepts through fragrances. It takes years of training for a nose to distinguish and understand how the ingredients change over time and how combinations affect the composition.

One of the most remarkable features of olfaction is the high sensitivity or low threshold for detection. Many odors in the air are detected, I smell something, at concentrations as low as 4 × 10^–15 g/l and are readily identified at 2 × 10^–13 g/l. ‘The Girl Who Sees Smells’ in the movie identifies odors, uncovers secrets, and helps to solve mysterious cases.

The nasal passage directs air through our nostrils, warming and filtering it along the way.

The nasal septum Is a piece of cartilage separating the two sides of the nose.

Olfactory receptors are nerve cells in the upper part of the nose that detect smell and send them to the brain for processing.

It has a complex anatomy. Despite jokes, it is more than just a place to balance glasses.

The olfactory receptors are coded for over one thousand separate genes. This information from the olfactory cells is taken into the olfactory bulb where there are odor maps. From here, signals are sent to the brain’s frontal lobe and limbic areas, particularly the amygdala and hippocampus, which play a role in learning and memory. This connection explains why we form likes or dislikes for certain scents at an early age that persist for a lifetime.

Dr Arvind Bhateja, Lead consultant Neurosurgeon and Spine Surgeon at Sparsh Hospital, Bengaluru in his Instagram reels humors:

"In 2014, Richard Axel and Linda Buck smelled the sweet fragrance of success when they won the Nobel Prize for their groundbreaking research on olfaction. The next time you ever breathe in a scent, take a moment to appreciate it. The olfactory world is more remarkable than you might think".

References:

 1. From Molecules to Perception: 126 Years at the Forefront of Olfactory Science.” Accessed November 8, 2024. https://www.nature.com/articles/d42473-022-00164-4.

2. Nef, Patrick. “How We Smell: The Molecular and Cellular Bases of Olfaction.” Physiology 13, no. 1 (February 1998): 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1152/physiologyonline.1998.13.1.1.

By Dr. Swati Sharma