Our Sense of Smell Is Amazing

I recently wrote a story for Knowable about what researchers are discovering about our sense of smell, losing it and how smell may be linked to brain health. I could only fit a fraction of what I learned into this article. For example, I met a woman who lost her sense of smell and gained the ability to compose music. But I wasn't able to include this. I must write about smell at length another time. I've also heard from many people who lost their sense of smell to various degrees. Again and again, they tell me the problem hurts not just the person but the whole family. If you'd like to get a free smell test, visit the Michael J. Fox Foundation. If you'd like to learn more about olfactory training and other options to potentially help restore smell, visit Zara Patel's site at Stanford.

How our body perceives odor