what makes us perceive smells?
406118
Imperium is correct.\n\nEach smell receptor has its own gene.  About 10% of a rat's genome codes for smell receptors, according to howstuffworks.\n\nhttp://science.howstuffworks.com/question139.htm\n\nMost of the similar genes in humans are faulty; we cannot use them.  We get by OK, as our vision is good.  Some experts say that our long history of living with dogs let us benefit from the dog's sense of smell, so we could afford to lose our own.\n\nSee also:\n\nhttp://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s1028434.htm\n\nand\n\nhttp://www.abc.net.au/rn/science/ss/stories/s1330617.htm
492959
Yes, my friend was born without the ability to smell, but she can still taste.  She says her sense of taste is probably muted because taste is augmented by smell.  But she can tell the difference between eating chocolate and eggs.  But she could not smell the difference if it wasn't in her mouth.  She told a story that when she was little she saw people smelling flowers and she would make the same gesture-pretend to smell flowers- but of course didn't understand until much later that they were getting a sensation she didn't get.
528902
babies can identify their mothers smell before they can identify the with their eyes
497426
the particles are transferred to air and by diffusion it spreads our nose sense it
706897
Your olefactory senses are working....
1025578
One way of improving you sense of smell is by blinding folding your eyes and using your other senses to know who or what may be there. Doing it this way please have someone help you. You can also improve your hearing, and touch. this was something we did in school back  afew years ago.
744274
sense of smell loss is refered to as - anosemia\nnot sure of the others
780554
What we see, and how we see it is attributed to mass illusion.  That is, nothing is as it looks, feels, tastes, or smells.  These are ALL CHEMICAL REACTIONS IN THE BRAIN.  They do not "take place in the real world, they take place in our brains, by chemical receptors locking into certain places and neural responses that are given to us when those chemicals respond to certain stimuli."  The fact that we all seem to live in the same world, with the same signs, same colors on the walls and the rest is the fact that we "call" things by certain names and require that others accept those labels.  Orange is always the same "color," sweet can be various degrees, but its always "sweet."  So, we condition each other from infants up to see the world AS WE (OR OUR PARENTS) SAW THE WORLD.  This is the most common and acceptable way, and why feral children are so special, growing up without "placed labels" on the world.  Basically, you see the world through your own unique view, however, throughout life, certain boundaries have been placed on your view of it.  Such as Dinner, supper and lunch.  Most people have specific times for each one, while for someone else, these words are interchangeable.  So, its all up to you on how you decide to see the world when you back up far enough to get a true view of it.  \n\nRemember, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar . . .
604981
have you had any head trauma? I was in a severe car accident and I lost my sense of smell completly, i couldn't even smell nail polish, it has dramitacally improved over the years though. Some have a sense of smell that isn't a receptive to others.  If you are really worried, ask a doctor, they may be able to do some tests.
349416
Let's take a simple one... cranial nerve number 1, the olfactory.  It controls the sense of smell.  One could have a malfuction from a brain tumor or skull fracture, for example, either of which could cause a loss of the sense of smell.
278647
We're limited by our imagination & what we can detect by our senses or tools
1035883
That is a great question.  I know if I have been working out or something, I can smell myself so I know others could but I think for most people if it goes on like that day in and day out, they have smelled so bad for so long they really don't notice it.\n\nI worked with a girl one time that reeked and I really don't think she knew it at all.
48658
Yes, smells have weight, or mass. When you smell something, your nose is detecting a few, a very few, molecules floating around in the air.
891436
Do you mean how a particular scent can bring back old memories?\n\nI think because our memory consists of connections. For example, eating apple reminds your of the colour red --> which reminds you of your old red car --> which reminds you of your first kiss which happened in that car.\n\nIn the example, the trigger is "sight" or what you see. Sense of smell, and all your other senses - touch, hearing, taste, will trigger a memory recall as well.\n\nSomething along that line.
319997
actually, we have different kinds of taste buds that do different things. some are only there to move food along, others have pores which entrap food and absorb the chemicals to stimulate our sensory neurons. We use our smell as well because all foods have odors that are detected by the odorant binding molecules located near the nose, superior to the roof of the mouth. To sum up your question, it has to do with the odorants binding to the receptors in the nose to send messages to the brain and also the tastant molecules being mixed with saliva to dissolve the taste to send messages to the brain. the cerebral cortex/
573201
Sensory details? Imagery?
72903
in a way, it can be thought of as a sense, like touch, smell, taste, etc.  It is a sense like sight, and we even say "insight."  We say we "grasp" what one is saying, to mean we know what they are saying.  That is, we have a sense of what they are saying.\n\nSo I think it is in some ways a sense.\n\nBut it is more than that, because it is formed as a result of various senses.  The 5 physical senses, plus mind or consciousness come together to form knowledge.\n\nSo I think it is its own category.  I could be wrong.