We’ve all had the experience of being impacted by scent. Fresh cut grass, home baked bread, the deep woods … the garbage.

Here’s a brief version of how it works: When an odor is inhaled it first hits the olfactory epithelium (teal green) which contains 20 million nerve endings. The odor is transmuted into a nerve message which is passed along the olfactory tract (black line) and enters the limbic system. It is first analyzed by the amygdala (yellow) and hippocampus (yellow) which are memory centers and a major player in emotional response. The memories may be current or from long ago. It’s then passed to the hypothalamus (green) which acts as a regulator and relay station. Some euphoric odors, like grapefruit and clary sage, stimulate the thalamus (purple) to secrete neurochemical inducing feelings of well-being. Others, like ylang ylang stimulate the pituitary gland (red) which secretes endorphins and governs other glands including the thyroid and adrenals. Still others, like marjoram and chamomile, causes the brain to stimulate the raphe nucleus (blue) which releases serotonin to relax us. And those stimulating oils, like rosemary, affect the locus ceruleus (yellow) which releases noradrenaline, waking us up.

If you think you aren’t affected by the world of scent that is all around you, think again.

There are times when you are in a situation where you don’t want to take in the aroma that surrounds you. What do you do? Read this – How do you smell?