The Implications of Scents in Comparison with COVID-19

            Smells are a part of everyday life. When you walk past a bakery and smell the freshly baked bread, maybe it takes your memories back to your family and your childhood. When you open your leftovers and notice an odd odor, it alerts you that the food may make you sick. Sense of smell also translates into the laboratory. For example, if there is an almond scent, it may indicate the presence of cyanide gas. Another remarkable aspect of smell is how it impacts memory. The research study of Laura Shanahan and Jay Gottfried aimed to accomplish this.

Shanahan and Gottfried’s study illustrated the importance of olfactory smells and memory consolidation. The researchers argued that sleep plays an active role in supporting memory consolidation when paired with a scent that was introduced during the memory task. The olfactory stimulus is critical for reactivating memories when presented during sleep. In this study, the primary odor used was a rose odor. The subjects were given a task similar to the game Memory with either no odor or the rose odor. Next, they went to sleep and were presented again with either no odor or the rose odor. The results indicated that participants performed better when they were exposed to the rose odor during sleep. Therefore, odors can enhance the consolidation of associated declarative memories during sleep without the sleeping subject’s being aware.

            After learning about the importance of scents during tasks and sleep, I was curious about the implications that people have when their sense of smell was lost due to the prolonged effects of COVID-19. Not only would it make it difficult for them to make new memories, but I was curious as to the social impacts that COVID would have on people. The article “Some Covid Survivors Haunted by Loss of Smell and Taste” by Roni Rabin evaluated the social effects of losing the sense of smell on people after COVID. The paper noted several personal statements, and one that stood out to me was that from an individual who could recreate restaurant dishes just by smell, but after covid, she even lost the ability to recreate the dishes. This individual had a heightened sense of smell (that I could not even come close to) before she was diagnosed with COVID. Consequently, she lost her passion for food in general. The article stated that she primarily lives off “soups and shakes” due to her being repulsed by normal foods (Rabin). The paper also stated that the lack of smell, or anosmia, increased the risk of developing mental health problems, including depression and anxiety. Specialists were perplexed that anosmia demonstrated a connection to social withdrawal (similar to what is expected for schizophrenia patients). Interestingly enough, it has been reported that people who have recovered from COVID are often haunted by phantom odors that are unpleasant. In addition to the information provided in the article, there are still other implications of anosmia in COVID survivors.

            I agree with Rabin’s stance that the sense of smell can have varying impacts unrelated to memory. The information mentioned in the article and that mentioned in Shanahan and Gottfried’s study confirms the knowledge that certain smells have the ability to trigger a memory. In addition, Rabin’s personal statements discussed how the sense of smell affects individuals' mental health and nutrition. Those affected by anosmia no longer enjoy simple daily activities like eating. This can lead to the formation of eating disorders and malnourishment. While I understood the primary factors of anosmia, I was unaware of the exact implications the lack of smell had on people and how prevalent this issue is especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rabin, Roni Caryn. “Some Covid Survivors Haunted by Loss of Smell and Taste.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 2 Jan. 2021, www.nytimes.com/2021/01/02/health/coronavirus-smell-taste.html?searchResultPosition=1.

Shanahan, Laura K., and Jay A. Gottfried. “Scents and Reminiscence: Olfactory Influences on Memory Consolidation in the Sleeping Human Brain.” Cognitive Neuroscience of Memory Consolidation, 2017, pp. 335–346., doi:10.1007/978-3-319-45066-7_20.