Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • OUTLOOK

Sniffing out smell’s effects on human behaviour

Olfaction could influence how people respond to threats or select a partner. To investigate, researchers need to design experiments that can capture its effects.
  1. Michael Eisenstein

    1. Michael Eisenstein is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar

A young woman sits in a reclining chair in a laboratory, waiting to participate in what she thinks is an effort to test some electrocardiography equipment. A researcher enters the room, greets the volunteer, and shakes her hand. After a brief chat, the investigator steps back out of the lab — and in seconds, the volunteer brings her hand to her face and sniffs.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Nature 606, S18-S20 (2022)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-01632-z

This article is part of Nature Outlook: Smell, an editorially independent supplement produced with the financial support of third parties. About this content.

References

  1. Frumin, I. et al. eLife 4, e05154 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. McGann, J. P. Science 356, eaam7263 (2017).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Bao, X. et al. Neuron 102, 1066–1075 (2019).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Schaal, B. et al. Nature 424, 68–72 (2003).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Hym, C. et al. Dev. Sci. 24, e13061 (2021).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Rekow, D. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 118, e2014979118 (2021).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. de Groot, J. H. B., Smeets, M. A. M., Kaldewaij, A., Duijndam, M. J. A. & Semin, G. R. Psychol. Sci. 23, 1417–1424 (2012).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. de Groot, J. H. B. et al. Psychol. Sci. 26, 684–700 (2015).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Smeets, M. A. M. et al. Metabolites 10, 84 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Wyatt, T. D. Proc. R. Soc. B 282, 20142994 (2015).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Wedekind, C., Seebeck, T., Bettens, F. & Paepke, A. J. Proc. Biol. Sci. 260, 245–249 (1995).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Havlíček, J., Winternitz, J. & Roberts, S. C. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 375, 20190260 (2020).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Mishor, E. et al. Sci. Adv. 7, eabg1530 (2021).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Subjects

Latest on:

Nature Careers

Jobs

  • PostDoc Associate

    PostDoc Associate in Dr. Zhaohui Feng's lab

    New Brunswick, New Jersey

    Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey

  • Professor of Mathematics and AI

    Lancaster University is seeking to appoint a Professor to take a prominent, strategic role in the leadership of MARS

    Lancaster, Lancashire (GB)

    Lancaster University

  • Policy Coordinator

    As OA Policy Coordinator, you will help drive development of Springer Nature’s open access policy and strategy to meet market changes.

    London or Berlin – Hybrid working model

    Springer Nature Ltd

  • Faculty Positions at SUSTech Department of Biomedical Engineering

    We seek outstanding applicants for full-time tenure-track/tenured faculty positions. Positions are available for both junior and senior-level.

    Shenzhen, Guangdong, China

    Southern University of Science and Technology (Biomedical Engineering)

  • Faculty Positions in Bioscience and Biomedical Engineering (BSBE) Thrust, Systems Hub, HKUST (GZ)

    Tenure-track and tenured faculty positions at all ranks (Assistant Professor/Associate Professor/Professor)

    Guangzhou, Guangdong, China

    The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou)

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing

Search

Advanced search

Quick links