Book 2, Question 56
Why Do We Get Used to a Smell?
When you first smell something, your nose shouts about it. But after a while, your brain turns the volume down. That is why you stop noticing a smell that stays around.
From the book
Page from A Million Whys Book 2
More fun facts
- Your nose has around 400 different types of smell sensors.
- Getting used to a smell is called odor adaptation. People also call it nose blindness.
- If you sit in a bakery for 15 to 20 minutes, the yummy smell can fade or seem to switch off.
- As you keep smelling the same thing, the smell sensors in your nose pull themselves inside their cells, so the smell molecules cannot reach them.
- Our senses mostly care about changes, so tuning out old smells helps us notice new ones.
- Smell is a warning system that can alert you to dangers like a gas leak, spoiled food, or a fire.
Sources: BBC, cdn.sinauer.com, National Institutes of Health
Questions kids ask
Why can visitors smell things in my house that I cannot?
Your nose has adapted to smells you are around every day, but a visitor's nose has not.