MRI brain scan reveals unexpected choice after smelling freshly baked bread

Wageningen: Wageningen scientists drew an unexpected conclusion after experiments with odours; when smelling bread, test subjects did not choose bread more often. MRI brain scans of the test subjects did show an effect of the smell of bread: the reward system in the brain was activated. But when the test subjects had to choose between standardised images of white bread, brown bread and cookies, the exposure to the bread aroma had varying effects. The aroma of bread turned out to increase the choice for cookies, whereas the smell of warm wood led to a more prominent preference for brown bread.

Odours stimulate brain activity even without functional sense of smell

Wageningen: Despite a diminished or even fully lost sense of smell, the brain continues to react to olfactory stimulation. This was shown in research by the Smell and Taste Centre among 48 patients with a smell disorder. The study indicates that various brain networks respond to odours, not just the olfactory areas in the brain. The research findings were published in the specialist journal Human Brain Mapping. The research results show that various areas in the brain cooperate as a network to sense odours. Besides the olfactory networks, the brain regions involved in sniffing are also active when odours are present in the nose. When sniffing pure air, brain activity occurs in the olfactory regions even without there being any odours in the nose.