Mechanisms of scent-tracking in humans - Nature Neuroscience
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Whether mammalian scent-tracking is aided by inter-nostril comparisons is unknown. We assessed this in humans and found that (i) humans can scent-track, (ii) they improve with practice, (iii) the human nostrils sample spatially distinct regions separated by ∼3.5 cm and, critically, (iv) scent-tracking is aided by inter-nostril comparisons. These findings reveal fundamental mechanisms of scent-tracking and suggest that the poor reputation of human olfaction may reflect, in part, behavioral demands rather than ultimate abilities.
  • emmeram@lemm.eeEnglish
    2·
    10 months ago

    I have a friend named Dave who wore so much patchouli that, if I went by his house within twenty minutes after he left, I could follow his trail through the open neighborhood and find him on scent alone.

  • Lvxferre@lemmy.mlEnglish
    2·
    10 months ago

    Two other details that makes us perform comparatively worse than dogs, at this sort of task:

    • A lot of scentful substances are rather heavy molecules, so they tend to go near the ground, closer to the dog’s nose but further from ours.
    • Humans have damn good vision. We simply gather more info from visual than olfactory clues, so we tend to undertrain the later.