Friday, March 06, 2020
A real first in neurology
Sort of following on previous item... We have two ears, two eyes, two nostrils, two hands, and so on.
We actually use the nostrils bilaterally and differentially just as we do with eyes and ears, but we don't think about it or talk about it. None of our technology or teaching or medicine or therapy RECOGNIZES that we have bilateral olfaction.
Bekesy proved it back in 1964 and then the fact pretty much laid on the shelf. You can prove it to yourself easily. Put a recognizable smell on a fingertip and hold it near each nostril. You can 'feel' the smell in each nostril separately.
Now some researchers in Israel are developing a practical way to use bilateral smell for therapy.
While exposed to the scent of a rose, research participants were asked to remember the location of words presented on either the left or right side of a computer screen. Participants were then tested on their memory of the word locations, then proceeded to nap at the lab. As the participants were napping, the scent of roses was administered again, but this time to only one nostril. With this "one-sided" odor delivery, the researchers were able to reactivate and boost specific memories that were stored in a specific brain hemisphere.This opens a path for improving memory of wanted stuff and decreasing memory of unwanted events. ¶ 2:38 PM
