Which of your senses do you rely on when navigating? Sight of course, but potentially also your sense of smell.
A study found that people who have a great sense of smell are often also good navigators. Researchers had study participants navigate through a virtual town on a computer to test their navigational skills. Then they tested the participants’ sense of smell by having them sniff one of forty scented felt-tip pens, and match the scent they perceived to one of four options. The participants who did best on the navigational task were the same ones who got top marks on the smell test.
Why does this connection exist?
Scientists have ideas, and one is the olfactory spatial hypothesis, which proposes that animals, including humans, evolved a sense of smell to help find their way around. However it happened, now it’s enshrined in our brains: top smellers and navigators have a bigger left orbitofrontal cortex, which is linked to smelling, and a right hippocampus, which is associated with both smelling and navigation.
It does seem like a useful pair of skills.
Read more
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- Sharks use Earth's magnetic field to navigate
- How hummingbirds use their sense of smell
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