Smells

[Fat Bottom Gurl]

I was away from my own home a couple of weeks ago and when I returned I realized I could smell things in my home that otherwise I had not realized (like - I could smell the dogs). A day or two later, I could no longer recall that smell when I came into my home.

Why is it that we are used to our own "smells" in our home but if we are away from it for a period of time those smells become obvious?

[Humanzee]

hmmm. I have notice the same... I think our 'smelly memory' is short term? It would be interesting to test how long it was.

[Jeff Corey]

It's called sensory adaptation, which occurs rapidly in the olfactory sense, otherwise people would have difficulty in living in parts of New Jersey.

[jasonpatterson]

If I had to guess, I'd say that this evolved because it's beneficial to be able to respond to novel stimuli rather than being overwhelmed by more powerful background stimuli. If your doggy house (or my old lady smelling house) overpowered something like a small gas leak, that could be pretty bad. The benefit of continually smelling dog or old lady is marginal at best, perhaps a reminder to get the rugs shampooed again...

More seriously, if the funky, rotten smell of a deep forest or jungle overpowered the scent of an approaching predator (or prey) that would be bad.

[Wolrab]

More seriously, if the funky, rotten smell of a deep forest or jungle overpowered the scent of an approaching predator (or prey) that would be bad.
Insert joke about cougars and perfumes here.

[wackyvorlon]

Eyes will do the same kind of adaptation given a chance. If you wear tinted glasses, the eyes will compensate for the tint over time. Once the glasses are taken of the world will appear tinted.

I'm aware of a study done some time ago where subjects wore glasses that actually flipped the field of view upside down. After a little while, the eyes actually compensated for this and flipped it back. Once the glasses were removed, the field of view appeared upside down again. It took a little while for the eyes to undo the compensation and they were back to normal.

[quarky]

smells like teen spirit

[RichardR]

(Wrong post - sorry)

[shandyjan]

Thats why they made the dual air freshener...the plug in one which has two fragrances that it will flip between every 30 minutes. the 30 minutes they researched.

[Mark the Hiker]

After climbing South Sister mountain in Oregon, which is mostly composed of reddish lava, we noticed a dog that looked green (?!). I figured out that this was a case of sensory adaptation, since my black backpack had a greenish tinge to it too.

[Jeff Corey]

Eyes will do the same kind of adaptation given a chance. If you wear tinted glasses, the eyes will compensate for the tint over time. Once the glasses are taken of the world will appear tinted.

I'm aware of a study done some time ago where subjects wore glasses that actually flipped the field of view upside down. After a little while, the eyes actually compensated for this and flipped it back. Once the glasses were removed, the field of view appeared upside down again. It took a little while for the eyes to undo the compensation and they were back to normal.
http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/mar97/858984531.Ns.r.html

[PbFoot]

I've noticed that a side effect of the Celexa I take for depression has the strange side effect of smell "amplification". It's quite weird. I can smell different "notes" in what used to be just a single smell. Also, it makes riding with flatulent people on elevators an even more disgusting experience. I wonder if this is what it's (a little bit) like for dogs or other smell sensitive species.

The smell amplification dosen't happen all the time, but every so often I can sure notice it.

Ever get a smell "stuck" in your nose. I find that certain smells, like the corn-cob based bedding in animal research facilities persist in my nostrils long after I leave the place. Certain cleaning chemicals are like that too.


-PbFoot

[Fat Bottom Gurl]

...Also, it makes riding with flatulent people on elevators an even more disgusting experience.

-PbFoot

Farts are one of those smells that certainly have hang time.