Chemical Senses

Although in the beginning of time they served as instincts of survival (2008), taste and smell are known as crucial senses today. Smell and taste have their place hand in hand in our chemical sensing system, also known as chemosensation.

These senses are crucial in many ways including in the connection created between the chemical senses, emotional memories, and the brain. Where chemical senses along with emotional memories can be directly activated by our sense of smell. This amazing phenomenon of smelling and tasting initiates when molecules set free by the elements around us stimulating distinct nerve cells in your mouth, throat, and nose. These astonishing senses of taste and smell enable the world around as a molecular level experience. Although smells come in many forms and shapes and taste offers many sensations, these two senses can affect each other and depend on whether or not we experience flavor. To be more precise, smell and taste affect how we directly perceive flavor. Taste and smell influence one another, making one of these senses stronger and impacting how we change the taste of our food. There are different elements that exist and highlight the connection between the chemical senses, emotional memories, and the brain.

When smell and taste affect each other.

Smell and taste can affect each other in multiple ways. The effect between smell and taste can impact the flavor of our food or at least how we perceive it. An issue with either or (smell or taste) could deter them combined. When your chemical sense of smell does not enable you to smell your meal, it is possible that your sense of taste may not be able to anticipate flavor. Being able to smell the scent of your meal empowers your awareness of flavor. Keeping in mind that our tongue and taste is only able to distinguish chemicals with a sweet, sour, bitter or salty flavors. If our sense of smell is affected by a simple cold or flu, our taste is also negatively impacted. Although taste and smell each have their own receptors, they work closely and coherently. Our sense of smell allows us to identify all possible flavors that make contact with our tongue. However, if our sense of smell is hindered in any away such as during the flu, it leaves all the the work to our tongue and its limited flavor capabilities (Spence,2015). Our olfactory receptor cells enable the measuring of odor and subsequently provide flavor to our meals. Once the olfactory receptors cells are stimulated they result in signals to the brain that allow our perception of taste. The relationship and effect between these two senses occur when a person has no sense of smell. It is likely that person’s taste may also suffer.

The change that makes food taste good.

If we must choose one sense to make our food taste better, we must keep in mind that taste is allowed to full potential when the sense of smell is involved. When our food does not have the taste that we recall we may think that there is an issue on our tongue but this may not necessary be the case. Essentially, the problem affecting the flavor of our food may be an issue with our sense of smell. This could be due to only the detection of taste alone and not the imperative food odors. When food odors are not being detected, taste alone will be directed to define or distinguish the chemicals that have a sweet, sour, salty, bitter taste. When our sense of taste is affected such as when we have a cold or we hold our nose together with our fingers, we will not be able to really taste our food. Another words, if we could change our senses to make food taste better, it would have to be the sense of smell. Smell and taste must be combined to allow us to have a full satisfying perception of the flavors of our meals.

Sensory Elements for that memorable meal.

When considering the creation of the most memorable meal, the sensory elements that must be present to highlight the connection between the chemical senses, emotional memories, and the brain, would have to be (1) the best sense of smell and (2) an impeccable functioning taste. This would help determine flavors in the food and would result in the best full of flavor experience. If the flavors could reach overflowing full potential, the persons having this meal would be able to travel to memory land as soon as the food hits their tongue. As soon as they took the first bite. Resulting in one of the most memorable flavored meals.

Chemical senses, emotional memories, and the brain.

There is a visible connection between the chemical senses, emotional memories, and the brain and they are entangled with each other. This important connection takes place by our chemical senses when we smell and our smell travels via the limbic system. This enables the creation of emotional memories in our brain. This is only possible because of travels to the emotional path of our brain. To fully understand that connection we must think of a certain place, certain smell that once active in your mind, it might bring back a memory. Smell and memory are connected. It is important to know that it is the memory that enables our learning in order to remember smells. A memory of a certain smell can cause a chemical sense and this happens because our emotional memories and the brain can make that connection allowing us to travel to that past or present. The scent that we perceive with our sense of smell can help us emotionally relax. If we smell the perfume or cologne of someone we are familiar with, the fragrance will take us down memory lane and bring emotions to play. Those emotional memories of a smell may remind our brain of moments in our past. The brain enables us to collect memories and emotional instants with the initiation of smell and taste.

Our sense of smell can impact our sexual and social lives.

In some research, there is indication that women are subconsciously attracted to the smell of a man whose immune system is unlike from their own (2008). It is the genetic depiction that gives you your unique body odor which also happens to be your exclusive immune system. It is possible that women are able to find a man who is somehow going to maximize the likelihood that their offspring is going to be healthy. Did you know that potentially, women could smell the most biologically compatible mates for themselves? Our sense of smell is crucial and fascinating. Those who have lost the sense of smell do not enjoy the same quality of life than those who have their senses.

The importance of our chemical senses is sometimes taken for granted and without smell, taste has no full potential. Our chemical senses, emotional memories and everything that takes place are so important when we taste. This is important not only to be able to taste our food but it is also crucial for survival and the optimal function of the human being. A smell can activate a feeling or a memory, allowing us to perceive flavors to their optimum capacity.

References:

Spence, C. (2015). Just how much of what we taste derives from the sense of smell? Flavor, 4 Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/1771958499?accountid=458

Smell and taste: Science of the senses [Video file]. (2008). Retrieved February 20, 2017, from http://fod.infobase.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?wID=18566&xtid=48859