The Psychology of Smell Paperback

You would give it up first. That is exactly how much you underestimate it. Ask people which sense they could live without, and most surrender smell without a second thought. The Psychology of Smell is a lively, myth-busting tour of the new science of the nose - and an argument that we have it exactly wrong. Smell is the oldest sense we have, the first to wake in the womb, and the only one wired straight into the parts of the brain that make us feel, remember and desire. It is why a stranger's perfume can flood you with grief before you can name it, why most of what you call taste is really smell in disguise, and why losing your sense of smell can quietly hollow out a life. Drawing on landmark research - the Nobel Prize-winning discovery of how smelling works, the famous "sweaty T-shirt" experiments on attraction, the Proust phenomenon of scent-triggered memory, and the wave of anosmia that a global pandemic thrust into the light - David Grimmiër follows the psychology of smell into every corner of daily life. Inside this book you'll discover: - How a single molecule becomes a memory, an emotion, or a warning - Why scent and memory are neurologically inseparable - and what that means for nostalgia and trauma - The truth about human pheromones, body odour and attraction - How scent marketing quietly steers what you buy - and how to notice it - What smell loss (anosmia) really takes from us, and how the nose can be retrained - Why smell may be an early-warning sign of Parkinson's and Alzheimer's Witty, humane and rigorously grounded, The Psychology of Smell sits alongside popular science favourites on the brain and the senses. It will change how you move through your next ordinary day - because the air is always telling you something. We simply forgot how to listen. Perfect for readers of popular psychology and neuroscience who love a curious, story-driven read about how the mind and body actually work.