The Science of Scent

Do Children’s Scent Experiences Appear in Their Drawings?

Twenty-eight children explored a scented Three Little Pigs exhibition. Their drawings and pointing responses reveal the challenges of combining color, story, and smell.

2026.11.03

The Science of Scent

Can Scent Change What We Judge to Be Gray?

An experiment in which 24 people adjusted an on-screen color to an achromatic point found small odor-related biases. We distinguish the color settings they selected from how those colors appeared.

2026.11.03

The Science of Scent

Does the Brain Respond Differently When You Keep Smelling the Same Odor?

After 30 seconds of exposure to the same odor, perceived intensity and early brain responses changed. An experiment with 13 participants explores the relationship between odor habituation and early processing.

2026.11.03

The Science of Scent

Does Hearing Experience Affect How We Perceive Odors?

A comparison of 11 people with congenital severe-to-profound hearing loss and 11 hearing participants explores sensory adaptation through smell tests and tasks involving stimulation inside the nose.

2026.11.03

The Science of Scent

How Can We Describe Scent-Evoked Feelings in Japanese?

Two hundred Japanese participants evaluated 10 odors using 25 emotional expressions. We introduce the clusters of feelings revealed by a Japanese odor-emotion scale, which captures more than pleasantness and unpleasantness alone.

2026.11.03

The Science of Scent

Can Scent Bring Friends’ Movements into Sync?

When friends talk, the timing of their gestures and movements can naturally become more alike. Does peppermint scent encourage this synchrony? A study asked 25 pairs of friends to perform different conversation tasks in rooms with and without scent.

2026.11.03

The Science of Scent

Does a Partner’s Smell Ease Stress?

Can a partner's body odor alone provide the reassurance of having them nearby? An experiment analyzing 179 people produced results that differed from expectations. Looking separately at perceived stress, heart rate, and hormones reveals the complexity of how smell affects us.

2026.11.03

The Science of Scent

Can Surrounding Odors Change How You See Your Own Face?

How do ratings of your own photograph change after smelling an unpleasant odor? A study explores this through ratings from 31 people and EEG analyses from 28.

2026.11.03

The Science of Scent

What Words Do We Use to Describe Perfume?

An analysis of nearly 30,000 Chinese-language perfume reviews examines how people describe materials, scenes, personal images, and preferences when talking about scent.

2026.11.03

The Science of Scent

Do Letters or Colors Help Us Recall an Odor’s Name?

Part of an odor's name, or a color suggesting its source: a naming task and brain-wave recordings in 40 people examined how these two cues differ.

2026.11.03

The Science of Scent