Smell, Your Least Appreciated Sense | Rachel Herz | TEDxNatick

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Published 2019-03-29

Your emotions are directly tied to the smells you experience. Join Rachel as she takes you on a tour of how smell affects the lives of everyone, from finding your spouse to survival. Enjoy her tips on using your nose to enhance your life. Dr. Herz is a leading expert on the psychological science of smell. Her published books include "Why You Eat What You Eat", "The Scent of Desire" and "That’s Disgusting". She’s written numerous research papers and articles and has been a guest on shows including "On Point" and "Science Friday". Dr. Herz is an adjunct faculty member at Brown University and Boston College and she advises many companies about enhancing consumer experiences. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx

All Comments (21)

@brandiguarino1778 5 years ago

I lost my sense of smell and people tend to think it’s funny. People would laugh if I told them it’s kind of depressing. I loved the smell of candles and flowers. It made me feel attracted and attached to my husband. When I had eye surgery my eyes were bandaged. It was at that time I realized everything I thought I was tasting was just in my memory. HERBS ACTUALLY HAVE NO FLAVOR! People will try and disagree with me, but trust me...I know! I lost weight because nothing tasted good. I really miss the smell of clean sheets. The more I think about it the more things I miss, but people think it’s funny. It’s really not.
@Happiiness28 5 years ago

This is a great reminder of how fascinating the human body is.
@Rien-- 5 years ago

and the olfactory system is the hippocampus's neighbour in the limbic system so thats why smell-associated memories are extremely vivid. nobody cares about this but whatever
@jaxx-inspiregrowcreate2862 5 years ago

I appreciate my nose! To smell all the beauty in life!
@DrRuben 5 years ago

Absolutely refreshing, excellent, thank you Dr. Herz! Love hearing that..."our memories are tied to our experiences of emotions..." and ...this is so relevant to the popular saying of 'smelling the roses in our journey!' I am so grateful to hear all this, it is refreshing especially when we are living in the midst of a world so enamored with commercializing everything to the point of robotizing humanity (and making it more dependent on those who have an agenda largely driven by short-term profit). Also, I appreciate this talk because of its simplicity. It normalizes the human experience. It is soothing and doesn't perpetuate a scarcity mindset, where we are left with needing to do one more thing in order to fit in or be "great." Most people are able to use aromas to enrich their lives and we can do it right away. Nothing to buy, nothing to wait for and is independent of your gender, skin color, SES status, culture, etc. Blessings!
@yanqiuzhu5012 3 years ago

amazing. Just amazing. Not only the knowledge, but how you organize it and how you offer tips to improve actual life.
@ianthemechanical829 3 years ago

I love my sense of smell! it makes me taste too! I am so happy god gave me this sense! I get very sad when I lose it. People say its the least important and it makes me annoyed. And when they so lose their smell they don’t realize how important it is until they lose it and they get sad. Smell should be important as your sight and hearing.
@ramanantheidoctor2817 5 years ago

How beautiful, how powerful is this TED TALKS. Thank you wholeheartedly for all the wisdom!
@DuqueHiram 5 years ago

I love your work Dra. Rachel Herz, thank you! So sensitive...
@thescentgurugroupruthsutcl6387 3 years ago

Fabulous! Dr. Herz gives a great presentation on the sense of smell and its importance in our lives, from choosing our mates, being aware our surroundings and even giving us the ability to save our lives by smelling danger. I can vouch that the activities I give to seniors living with dementia brings them joy and encourages communication and socialization. Having a good sense of smell is good therapy!
@KellsSmith1244 5 years ago

My dad was a chemistry teacher and it caused loss of smell over the years so now his favorite joke is, "I don't smell so good."
@moodycrab77 5 years ago

Rachel Herz is my hero!
@unleashingpotential-psycho9433 5 years ago

Smell is so underrated 🔥
@ioannakaragouni1162 5 years ago

This was so good!
@Babalsha 5 years ago

Loved it
@Toujours2007 5 years ago

the sense of smell is the most fascinating thing to me. I would love to smell anything, but I`m anosmic since birth. There are so many things the most people don`t realise, like is something burning in the oven, cause someone set the timer wrong, or wich parfume should I pick. Are the leftovers still good... I would be the last to know if there was a fire if it wasn`t in sightline. anyway... what I really wanted to say was it`s a great video and I appreciate it :)
@simonerusso2802 5 years ago

my grandma lost most of her smell sense after a stroke, so i asked myself: which sense would be the least bad to lose? and smell is obviously the one i would choose
@user-cr2ro9tt2z 3 years ago

Omg u are just amazing !
@purushukp9850 5 years ago

Nothing to say it's just Amazing&inspiring
@igeorgoudi 5 years ago

I was saved by my sense of smell once... a socket was burning and I smelled this weird odour that reminds me of "roasted octopus" and i found that a wire had got on fire! Also, in other species there is a special organ inside the rhenal system that is linked to pheromones!