Transcripts

Dr. Alan Hirsch:
We found that when people bowl, the presence of the smell of jasmine increased their bowling scores. Possibly jasmine is improving hand-eye coordination or maybe it's making people have a more positive effect or mood state - and when you're happier you do everything better.

Dr. Alan Hirsch, Director of the Smell & Taste Research Center in Chicago, says our sense of smell is more important than we often realize. Certain smells can actually affect our visual perception.

What we found is when women wore a mixed floral, spicy aroma, men perceived them to be approximately twelve pounds lighter. Now it only works on a man's perception of a woman - it doesn't work on a woman's perception of a man or a woman's perception of another woman.

This was done in a research setting. That mixed floral, spicy aroma is not something that women can buy at the perfume counter.

It sort of smells like a combination of Old Spice and a floral shampoo. But we did another study. We looked at odors on perception of age. We found that when women wore the smell of pink grapefruit, men perceived them to be approximately six years younger.

Ever notice that certain smells can transport you right back to your childhood?

This is a phenomenon called olfactory-evoked nostalgia. We studied that and we found that the number one odor that made people nostalgic for their childhood was baked goods.

You can link to Alan's website from ours: somethingyoushouldknow.net I'm Mike Carruthers and that's Something You Should Know.