What the Nose Knows: The Science of Scent in Everyday Life (31 page)

The discovery in 1996
N. Chaudhari, H. Yang, et al., “The taste of monosodium glutamate: Membrane receptors in taste buds,”
Journal of Neuroscience
16 (1996):3817–26.

those who claim
Carl Sagan,
The Dragons of Eden
(New York: Random House, 1977), p. 156; Andrew Hamilton, “What science is learning about smell,”
Science Digest
, November 1966, pp. 81–84; Havelock Ellis,
Studies in the Psychology of Sex: Sexual Selection in Man
(Philadelphia: F. A. Davis Company, 1922), pp. 47, 48.

psychologist Paul Rozin
P. Rozin, “‘Taste-smell confusions’ and the duality of the olfactory sense,”
Perception & Psychophysics
31 (1982):397–401.

psychologist Debra Zellner
B. J. Koza, A. Cilmi, et al., “Color enhances orthonasal olfactory intensity and reduces retronasal olfactory intensity,”
Chemical Senses
30 (2005):643–49.

Australian psychologist R. J. Stevenson
Stevenson’s work is described in D. M. Small and J. Prescott, “Odor/taste integration and the perception of flavor,”
Experimental Brain Research
166 (2005):345–57.

in the other direction as well
J. Djordjevic, R. J. Zatorre, and M. Jones-Gotman, “Odor-induced changes in taste perception,”
Experimental Brain Research
159 (2004):405–8.

“no human populations”
R. Wrangham and N. Conklin-Brittain, “Cooking as a biological trait,”
Comparative biochemistry and physiology, Part A, Molecular & Integrative Physiology
136 (2003):35–46. See also A. Gibbons, “Paleoanthropology: Food for thought,”
Science
316 (2007):1558–60.

more nimble modern mouth
P. W. Lucas, K. Y. Ang, et al., “A brief review of the recent evolution of the human mouth in physiological and nutritional contexts,”
Physiology & Behavior
89 (2006):36–38.

The aroma of bacon
M. R. Yeomans, “Olfactory influences on appetite and satiety in humans,”
Physiology & Behavior
87 (2006):800–804.

“any dried, fragrant, aromatic”
Kenneth T. Farrell,
Spices, Condiments, and Seasonings
, 2nd edition (New York: Springer, 1990).

“flavor principles”
Elisabeth Rozin,
Ethnic Cuisine: How to Create the Authentic Flavors of 30 International Cuisines
(New York: Penguin, 1992), p. xiv.

“You can prepare forty dishes”
Michael Washburn, “Q&A: Chewing the Fat with Charlie Trotter,”
Detours: The Online Magazine of the Illinois Humanities Council
5, no. 1 (May 2003).

To test their idea
J. Billing and P. W. Sherman, “Antimicrobial functions of spices: Why some like it hot,”
Quarterly Review of Biology
73 (1998):3–49.

vegetable dishes
P. W. Sherman and G. A. Hash, “Why vegetable recipes are not very spicy,”
Evolution and Human Behavior
22 (2001):147–63.

“the price of civilization”
Nicholas Wade,
Before the Dawn
(New York: Penguin, 2006), p. 270.

Olfaction is one such hot spot
B. F. Voight, S. Kudaravalli, et al., “A map of recent positive selection in the human genome,”
PLoS Biology
4 (2006):446;R. Nielsen, C. Bustamante, et al., “A scan for positively selected genes in the genomes of humans and chimpanzees,”
PLoS Biology
3 (2005):e170; A. G. Clark, S. Glanowski, et al., “Inferring nonneutral evolution from human-chimp-mouse orthologous gene trios,”
Science
302 (2003):1960–63; S. H. Williamson, M. J. Hubisz, et al., “Localizing recent adaptive evolution in the human genome,”
PLoS Genetics
3 (2007):e90; H. Tang, S. Choudhry, et al., “Recent genetic selection in the ancestral admixture of Puerto Ricans,”
American Journal of Human Genetics
81 (2007):626–33.

gene for lactose absorption
T. Bersaglieri, P. C. Sabeti, et al., “Genetic signatures of strong recent positive selection at the lactase gene,”
American Journal of Human Genetics
74 (2004):1111–20; S. A. Tishkoff, F. A. Reed, et al., “Convergent adaptation of human lactase persistence in Africa and Europe,”
Nature Genetics
39 (2007):31–40; J. Burger, M. Kirchner, et al., “Absence of the lactase-persistence-associated allele in early Neolithic Europeans,”
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA
104 (2007):3736–41.

“has delivered a richer repertoire”
Shepherd, “The human sense of smell,” p. 573.

Smell prejudice
Pearl Buck,
The Good Earth
(New York: John Dan, 1931), pp. 110–11.

olfactory stereotyping
Constance Classen, David Howes, and Anthony Synnott,
Aroma: The Cultural History of Smell
(London: Routledge, 1994).

Scottish clans
Ron Clark, “Savouring the Sweet Smell of Scotland: Aroma Scientist Makes Scents of the Natural World,”
The Herald
(Glasgow), March 14, 2003.

At cultural boundaries
S. Ayabe-Kanamura, I. Schicker, et al., “Differences in perception of everyday odors: A Japanese-German cross-cultural study,”
Chemical Senses
23 (1998):31–38.

Jha’s novel
Radhika Jha,
Smell: A Novel
(New York: SoHo Press, 1999).

“a repulsive gelatinous fishlike dish”
Garrison Keillor,
Lake Wobegon Days
(New York: Viking, 1985).

Brown compiled a list
For Brown’s list, see Steven Pinker,
The Blank Slate
(New York: Viking, 2002).

“a miasma of eyeglass-fogging kimchi breath”
P. J. O’Rourke,
Holidays in Hell
(New York: Grove/Atlantic, 2000), p. 46.

Mango Chipotle seafood marinade
Tom Van Riper, “Turning Up the Heat,”
Forbes.com
, March 21, 2006.

“West Coast doughnut flour”
Francis Sill Wickware, “They’re After Your Nose Now,”
The Saturday Evening Post
, June 21, 1947, p. 26.

air-freshener sales
“Trends in Air Care,” data presented by Lynn Dornblaser, GNPD Consulting Services/Mintel Group, 2005.

beer is less bitter
Sarah Ellison, “After Making Beer Ever Lighter, Anheuser Faces a New Palate,”
Wall Street Journal
, April 26, 2006.

tasting more and more alike
“The French Move Their Cheese—Down-Market,”
Wall Street Journal,
June 20, 2000; “U.S., France Clash over Curdled Milk; Defending France’s Smelliest Cheese,”
Wall Street Journal
, May 27, 1999; “Sweet Stink of Success,”
The Guardian
(London), November 26,1999.

“Joel Lloyd Bellenson places a little ceramic bowl”
Charles Platt, “You’ve Got Smell!”
Wired
, issue 7.11 (November 1999), p. 256.

aroma impact molecules
M. Czerny, F. Mayer, and W. Grosch, “Sensory study on the character impact odorants of roasted arabica coffee,”
Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
47 (1999):695–699.

“refresh the nose”
Crocker and Henderson (1927).

the results were surprising
E. A. Johnson and Z. M. Vickers, “The effectiveness of palate cleansers,” Presentation to the Institute of Food Technologists annual meeting 2002.

sensory specialist Hildegaarde Heymann
B. Madrigal-Galan and H. Heymann, “Sensory effects of consuming cheese prior to evaluating red wine flavor,”
American Journal of Enology and Viticulture
57 (2006):12–22. Also see, “UC Davis Study Challenges Classic Wine-Cheese Pairings,”
San Francisco Chronicle,
July 16, 2005.

Only three studies
J. F. Delwiche and M. L. Pelchat, “Influence of glass shape on wine aroma,”
Journal of Sensory Studies
17 (2002):19–28; J. F. Delwiche, “The impact of glass shape on the perception of wine: Bacchus to the future,” Proceedings of the Inaugural Brock University Wine Conference, 2002; T. Hummel, J. F. Delwiche, et al., “Effects of the form of glasses on the perception of wine flavors: A study in untrained subjects,”
Appetite
41 (2003):197–202.

Chapter 6. The Malevolence of Malodor

“And when euyl substance”
John Reidy, ed.,
Thomas Norton’s Ordinal of Alchemy,
Early English Text Society no. 272 (Oxford University Press, 1975), p. 64.

“some stinking doonghills”
Danielle Nagler, “Towards the smell of mortality: Shakespeare and the ideas of smell 1588–1625,”
The Cambridge Quarterly
26 (1997):42–58.

“Ten years from now”
James Bovard, “Get a Whiff of This!”,
Wall Street Journal,
December 27, 1995.

“a poorly understood and controversial syndrome”
O. Van den Bergh, K. Stegen, et al., “Acquisition and extinction of somatic symptoms in response to odours: A Pavlovian paradigm relevant to multiple chemical sensitivity,”
Occupational and Environmental Medicine
56 (1999):295–301.

results consistently show
R. L. Doty, D. A. Deems, et al., “Olfactory sensitivity, nasal resistance, and autonomic function in patients with multiple chemical sensitivities,”
Archives of Otolaryngology
—
Head & Neck Surgery
114(1988):1422–27; E. Caccappolo, H. Kipen, et al., “Odor perception: Multiple chemical sensitivities, chronic fatigue, and asthma,”
Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
42 (2000):629–38; D. Papo, B. Eberlein-Konig, et al., “Chemosensory function and psychological profile in patients with multiple chemical sensitivity: Comparison with odor-sensitive and asymptomatic controls,”
Journal of Psychosomatic Research
60 (2006):199–209.

In another test
Caccappolo, Kipen, et al., “Odor perception,” pp. 629–38.

the smell of baby oil
Izabella St. James,
Bunny Tales: Behind Closed Doors at the Playboy Mansion
(Philadelphia: Running Press, 2006).

Galveston hurricane
Herbert Molloy Mason Jr.,
Death from the Sea
(Dial Press, 1972), pp. 198–99.

funeral home scandal
“A Mortuary Tangled in the Macabre,”
Los Angeles Times
, December 30, 1988; Kathy Braidhill,
Chop Shop
(New York: Pinnacle Books, 1993,) p. 138.

fire department paramedic
E. Vermetten and J. D. Bremner, “Olfaction as a traumatic reminder in posttraumatic stress disorder: Case reports and review,”
Journal of Clinical Psychiatry
64 (2003):202–7.

Cambodian refugees
D. Hinton, V. Pich, et al., “Olfactory-triggered panic attacks among Khmer refugees: A contextual approach,”
Transcultural Psychiatry
41 (2004):155–99; D. E. Hinton, V. Pich, et al., “Olfactory-triggered panic attacks among Cambodian refugees attending a psychiatric clinic,”
General Hospital Psychiatry
26 (2004):390–97.

makes people sick
W. Winters, S. Devriese, et al., “Media warnings about environmental pollution facilitate the acquisition of symptoms in response to chemical substances,”
Psychosomatic Medicine
65 (2003):332–38.

single episode
O. Van den Bergh, P. J. Kempynck, et al., “Respiratory learning and somatic complaints: A conditioning approach using CO
₂
-enriched air inhalation,
Behaviour Research and Therapy
33 (1995):517–27.

stimulus generalization
S. Devriese, W. Winters, et al., “Generalization of acquired somatic symptoms in response to odors: A pavlovian perspective on multiple chemical sensitivity,
Psychosomatic Medicine
62 (2000):751–59.

phenomenon called extinction
O. Van den Bergh, K. Stegen, et al., Acquisition and extinction of somatic symptoms in response to odours: A Pavlovian paradigm relevant to multiple chemical sensitivity,
Occupational and Environmental Medicine
56 (1999):295–301.

“warnings and campaigns”
W. Winters, S. Devriese, et al., “Media warnings about environmental pollution facilitate the acquisition of symptoms in response to chemical substances,”
Psychosomatic Medicine
65 (2003):332–38.

If you believe
S. Devriese, W. Winters, et al., “Perceived relation between odors and a negative event determines learning of symptoms in response to chemicals,”
International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health
77 (2004):200–204.

“hypothesized biological processes”
H. Staudenmayer, K. E. Binkley, et al., “Idiopathic environmental intolerance, Part 1: A causation analysis applying Bradford Hill’s criteria to the toxicogenic theory,”
Toxicological Reviews
22(2003):235–46. A meta-analysis that casts doubt on the validity of MCS as a clinical construct and finds “expectations and prior beliefs” to be a key factor in response is to be found in J. Das-Munshi, G. J. Rubin, and S. Wessely, “Multiple chemical sensitivities: A systematic review of provocation studies,”
Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology
118 (2006):1257–64.

a psychogenic theory
H. Staudenmayer, K. E. Binkley, et al., “Idiopathic environmental intolerance, Part 2: A causation analysis applying Bradford Hill’s criteria to the psychogenic theory,”
Toxicological Reviews
22 (2003): 247–61. See also D. Papo, B. Eberlein-Konig, et al., “Chemosensory function and psychological profile in patients with multiple chemical sensitivity: Comparison with odor-sensitive and asymptomatic controls,”
Journal of Psychosomatic Research
60 (2006):199–209.

“Imagination has, besides, a great deal”
Eugene Rimmel,
The Book of Perfumes
, 7th edition (London: Chapman and Hall, 1871), p. 13.

“Now, can it be possible”
Mark Twain, “About Smells,”
The Galaxy
, May 1870.

“battle royal”
“Ex-con, Woman Dead in Bronx,”
New York Daily News
, September 10, 2004.

can happen anywhere
“Fears of Growing Old Lead Couple to Suicide,”
Chicago Sun-Times
, August 12, 1994; “Pair in 80s Found Dead in Home; Apparently Died Several Weeks Ago,”
Houston Chronicle,
March 22,1997.