Why can't we feel our body odor?

Let's find out why many people can't smell their body . while discovering many other scents.

Imagine you are walking in a field full of tulips, you can enjoy that lovely scent blending with your body odor.

But even if you can smell a lot of different scents, it is hard to feel the smell on your body. Why?

From the way the nose works

We know that the nasal cavity is about 7cm above the nostril, consisting of a group of cells called olfactory tissue . These cells connect to the brain through a line made of olfactory neurons. At the end of each neuron has a receptor cell.

When tiny molecules float in the air or the molecular chain breaks down when chewing food in contact with this receptor cell, they stick together. This process is called protein covalent bonding .

Once interacted, it will generate an electrical signal transmitted from the noron to the brain. The feedback signal from the brain will give us a sense of smell.

Humans can detect at least one trillion odors, and the number is the lowest.

There are about 350 genes (out of 1,000 olfactory genes) forming odor receptors. Each gene creates a different receptor. Each receptor reacts with a group of odors with the same chemical structure - from the smell of coffee, the smell of cabbage to perfume .

A different group of receptor cells will combine and be activated so that we can distinguish different odors.

People used to think that humans could only recognize about 10,000 different smells. But recently, Dr. Leslie Vosshall and his colleagues at Rockefeller University have demonstrated that humans can detect at least one trillion odors, and that number is the lowest.

Dr. Vosshall's research uses only 128 different scent molecules to achieve a 1 trillion sense of smell. She points out that there are more natural odor combinations than the 128 she used.

. to the "always deaf" when smelling my body odor

Everyone knows, if you live in an environment for too long, people will adapt to it, and see it as an obvious thing.

Therefore, it is not uncommon for you to be able to recognize armpit odor even when you have just eaten heavy spices like garlic, onions .

Not sensing this odor occurs when the receptor involved in the odor molecule is not stimulated by similar odor molecules.

According to experts, not feeling this smell occurs when receptors related to that odor molecule are not stimulated by similar odor molecules. At this time, the transmission channel and the electrical signal generator were completely closed.

The result is only receptors that can be stimulated by other odor molecules - making it easier to identify new smells.

And when you are attacked repeatedly by countless smells, you cannot feel the familiar smell anymore.

When you are repeatedly attacked by countless smells, you cannot feel the familiar smell anymore.

Although it seems impolite, perhaps the oldest and most effective solution is to ask the person next to you, "Do I smell anything?" in the hope that they ignore common courtesy and answer frankly.

Perhaps we should hope that in the future people will build a helper robot with sensors to help identify your own body odor.