1. There was an episode of the medical-mystety TV show "House M.D." about a man whose senses of smell and taste had gone wrong. (He turned out to be a cannibalistic serial killer.)
2. I'm always struck by how the aroma of coffee is irresistible to humans but vile to dogs.
3. I love the smell of peanut butter even though I'm highly allergic to it. I'd have thought my brain would have warned me by making that smell unpleasant.
Oh I love this comment ... it captures exactly how weird and personal smell can be.
1. House M.D. really knew how to dramatize the olfactory system 😄 I remember that episode! I’m not sure how the “phantom smell and cannibalistic serial killer” bit would hold up scientifically, however... in real life, phantom smells often trace back to some kind of brain or nerve pathway disruption. Maybe the cannibalistic serial killer was that way because he had some neurological defect or damage ... either way, definitely the seed of an interesting story.
2. Dogs hating the smell of coffee is such a classic example of species differences ... what’s cozy to us can be way too intense for their super-sniffers. My Maine Coon cat is the opposite: she actually loves licking the bottom of my coffee mug after I finish (even when there’s no milk). I try to keep her away from it, but it’s funny how individual animals respond so differently.
3. And the peanut butter story is a perfect illustration of how smell isn’t really a built-in “danger alert” system. It’s tied much more to memory and emotion than to threat detection. At the same time ...I’m intrigued by your point ... it makes me wonder if there’s a physiological and psychological layer to how our brains interpret certain scents. I might have to dig into that more. I'll add that to my list of "research for the future".
Thank you for sharing these ... they’re the kind of real-life quirks that make this topic so rich.
"Sticking"? Beatrice, did you make a pun? 😄😄 No peanut butter for me, mainly because it would put me in the hospital and I'm pretty sure you wouldn't visit me.
Hey, let me give you my definition of God, then you tell me if I'm a rotten stinkin’ atheist. 😉
My definition comes from the Book of John, so at least it's got that going for it.
God is love.
God is a spirit, and those who worship must worship in spirit.
Staple those together and I get “God is the spirit of love. BANG. That's it. That's my definition. For me, God isn't a kindly guy who keeps the traffic light green so I won't be late. He doesn't make a sore throat go away or mend a broken leg or cure leukemia.
Once you can wrap your brain around this definition, Biblical verses are transformed. “Where 2 or 3 are gathered in the name of the Spirit of love, the Spirit of love is there”. (I could go on…)
I had no idea this was, or even could be an issue, but it makes perfect sense. Not to be picky, but in there's a slight typo in common causes, item 3. The Signal is in bold, but Glitch is not.
Haha, I read that several times before publishing, but never caught it lol. This is called tunnel vision … Yes it’s a typo. I will fix it. Thank you for pointing that out.
Interesting! For a head and neck surgeon like me, this phenomenon reminds me of tinnitus (perception of aberrant sound after sensorineural hearing loss).
That’s an excellent point! I’ve come across similar parallels ... the idea that after sensory loss, the brain can generate its own perceptions, whether it’s sound or smell 🎧👃 It really shows how much of what we “sense” is actually happening in the brain, not just the sensory organs.
There are also some interesting connections to taste 👅 Someone in the thread asked me about that, so I’ve been digging into it. From what I understand (please correct me if I’m off), tinnitus often happens after damage to the cochlea, or from some type of neurological cause or neural hyperactivity. It’s quite similar to phantosmia and parosmia, where some kind of olfactory damage or misfiring leads to distorted or phantom smells. "always starts with some form of damage/injury"
There are also genetic influences when it comes to taste. For example, some people say cilantro tastes like soap 🧼🌿 That one’s linked to a variation in the OR6A2 gene, which makes certain compounds in cilantro smell and taste unpleasant to them.
Fascinating! I didn’t know there were parallels in taste as well. I'm looking forward to reading your research on the perception of taste!
Yes, tinnitus typically occurs after damage/ injury to the auditory sensory input either in the form of conductive hearing loss or sensorineural hearing loss (related to the auditory nerve or cochlea).
Awesome. I am still researching the taste angle. It's not something I am familiar with. Downloaded a few articles from PubMed and am reading through. I will post something over the next couple of weeks.
You should write about tinnitus. If you do, let me know. Or if you need some research done, I can help with that, too. I can repost your article to help boost your page.
I started off talking about Parkinson's and Alzheimer's back on July 18th, and with no viral notes or anything, I managed to get 800+ subscribers in about 85 days. I noticed that mixing my area and going broad always works and keeps people interested.
This is also why you don't Google symptoms either 😂 First happened to me about 15 years ago when I woke the family up because I thought the house was on fire. 3am and out in the garden, that was my first experience of parosmia so I googled it.
Google told me I had brain cancer, to make a will and say goodbye to everyone.
The truth was a little less drastic as I've always suffered with sinusitis but now it came with being able to smell the infection but in the form of bonfire smoke. Now, it doesn't happen all the time but it's an early warning sign that a sinus infection is coming.
I dread the day when I have a sinus infection and there is a real fire though because I'll just sleep through it.
You wrote this at the exact time I’ve been working on an article about how I once helped a woman who was struggling with hair loss, dizziness, and joint pain that had become truly debilitating. When she first turned to Google-educated nutritionists, the results were terrifying and ... honestly ... not very helpful.
That’s the problem with surface-level answers online (and yes, even AI can be guilty of this). These tools often just echo every possible condition, creating panic instead of clarity. I don’t claim to give medical advice ... even though I used to teach medical doctors about cancer and other diseases ... but I try to share what I know so people can take that information and have more meaningful conversations with their doctors.
With phantom smells or parosmia, what I really want to get across is: this can have neurological connections, sometimes involving damage in the smell pathways. Getting it checked, or at least making your doctor aware of it, really matters. If the damage is curable, the phantom smell should go away. It should not last more than 1-2 years (max)
I’m currently digging into research linking phantom smells to conditions like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, and I plan to put together a factual, science-grounded piece on that. And yes — I’ll be covering the COVID connection next week too. There’s a lot of solid data there.
Thank you for sharing your story — your 3 a.m. “fire alarm” moment is exactly why this topic needs clearer, real-world conversations.
My background was medicine in the military so I did know to treat it with some scepticism, but as you point out, fear sells and the internet thrives on that, even back then too. I think what you cover is amazing, though I don't think I could really cover what I taught (Battlefield trauma and STD's 😆) though the former did set me on the path to mental health and Neurodiversity.
I'll echo your points too around the fact when it first happens it is scary because in my case, it came out of nowhere. But how important it is to get these things checked out as more often than not, it's easily treatable or explainable.
Would love to read your piece on that when it's done too because it's an interesting topic and given my work is around Neurodiversity, how the brain can be wired differently has always fascinated me. I've started my research too on the framework so soon my posts will start switching to being more research based.
Thank you so much!! 😊 I really think people should learn more about this. Some just ignore these smells, but they can actually point to deeper neurological issues or even be early signs of diseases like Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s. These smells usually appear because of some kind of tissue or nerve damage ... often it heals on its own, but not always. That’s why talking to a doctor is so important. I’m also working on another article about this in relation to COVID, since a lot of new studies have come out. I’ll be sending it out next week ... still finishing it up! ✨
That’s such a great question Shannon ... cilantro is a special case.
What’s happening there isn’t usually “phantom” taste but rather a genetic difference. Some people have a variation or a mutation in a smell taste receptor gene (OR6A2) that makes them extra sensitive to certain aldehydes ... these aldehydes are natural compounds in cilantro. Those aldehydes happen to be the same ones found in some soaps… so to their brains, cilantro = soap.
Phantom or distorted taste (called phantogeusia or parageusia) can happen too, often for similar reasons as smell distortion ... nerve damage, infections, sinus issues, even neurological conditions. But cilantro soap taste is more about how genes and genetics.
Great question .... it’s one of the best everyday examples of how taste and smell are both personal and biological. 🌿✨
Three items came to mind as I read:
1. There was an episode of the medical-mystety TV show "House M.D." about a man whose senses of smell and taste had gone wrong. (He turned out to be a cannibalistic serial killer.)
2. I'm always struck by how the aroma of coffee is irresistible to humans but vile to dogs.
3. I love the smell of peanut butter even though I'm highly allergic to it. I'd have thought my brain would have warned me by making that smell unpleasant.
Oh I love this comment ... it captures exactly how weird and personal smell can be.
1. House M.D. really knew how to dramatize the olfactory system 😄 I remember that episode! I’m not sure how the “phantom smell and cannibalistic serial killer” bit would hold up scientifically, however... in real life, phantom smells often trace back to some kind of brain or nerve pathway disruption. Maybe the cannibalistic serial killer was that way because he had some neurological defect or damage ... either way, definitely the seed of an interesting story.
2. Dogs hating the smell of coffee is such a classic example of species differences ... what’s cozy to us can be way too intense for their super-sniffers. My Maine Coon cat is the opposite: she actually loves licking the bottom of my coffee mug after I finish (even when there’s no milk). I try to keep her away from it, but it’s funny how individual animals respond so differently.
3. And the peanut butter story is a perfect illustration of how smell isn’t really a built-in “danger alert” system. It’s tied much more to memory and emotion than to threat detection. At the same time ...I’m intrigued by your point ... it makes me wonder if there’s a physiological and psychological layer to how our brains interpret certain scents. I might have to dig into that more. I'll add that to my list of "research for the future".
Thank you for sharing these ... they’re the kind of real-life quirks that make this topic so rich.
"Sticking"? Beatrice, did you make a pun? 😄😄 No peanut butter for me, mainly because it would put me in the hospital and I'm pretty sure you wouldn't visit me.
Hey, let me give you my definition of God, then you tell me if I'm a rotten stinkin’ atheist. 😉
My definition comes from the Book of John, so at least it's got that going for it.
God is love.
God is a spirit, and those who worship must worship in spirit.
Staple those together and I get “God is the spirit of love. BANG. That's it. That's my definition. For me, God isn't a kindly guy who keeps the traffic light green so I won't be late. He doesn't make a sore throat go away or mend a broken leg or cure leukemia.
Once you can wrap your brain around this definition, Biblical verses are transformed. “Where 2 or 3 are gathered in the name of the Spirit of love, the Spirit of love is there”. (I could go on…)
Not Starbucks. They over-roast their beans… (Me = coffee snob). 😁
Acceptable! Black, of course. Like a grownup. 😉
I had no idea this was, or even could be an issue, but it makes perfect sense. Not to be picky, but in there's a slight typo in common causes, item 3. The Signal is in bold, but Glitch is not.
The irony is delicious. Might wanna leave it 😏
Haha, I read that several times before publishing, but never caught it lol. This is called tunnel vision … Yes it’s a typo. I will fix it. Thank you for pointing that out.
Very interesting. 🌸
Interesting! For a head and neck surgeon like me, this phenomenon reminds me of tinnitus (perception of aberrant sound after sensorineural hearing loss).
That’s an excellent point! I’ve come across similar parallels ... the idea that after sensory loss, the brain can generate its own perceptions, whether it’s sound or smell 🎧👃 It really shows how much of what we “sense” is actually happening in the brain, not just the sensory organs.
There are also some interesting connections to taste 👅 Someone in the thread asked me about that, so I’ve been digging into it. From what I understand (please correct me if I’m off), tinnitus often happens after damage to the cochlea, or from some type of neurological cause or neural hyperactivity. It’s quite similar to phantosmia and parosmia, where some kind of olfactory damage or misfiring leads to distorted or phantom smells. "always starts with some form of damage/injury"
There are also genetic influences when it comes to taste. For example, some people say cilantro tastes like soap 🧼🌿 That one’s linked to a variation in the OR6A2 gene, which makes certain compounds in cilantro smell and taste unpleasant to them.
Maybe tinnitus deserves a spot on the list too 😄
Fascinating! I didn’t know there were parallels in taste as well. I'm looking forward to reading your research on the perception of taste!
Yes, tinnitus typically occurs after damage/ injury to the auditory sensory input either in the form of conductive hearing loss or sensorineural hearing loss (related to the auditory nerve or cochlea).
Awesome. I am still researching the taste angle. It's not something I am familiar with. Downloaded a few articles from PubMed and am reading through. I will post something over the next couple of weeks.
You should write about tinnitus. If you do, let me know. Or if you need some research done, I can help with that, too. I can repost your article to help boost your page.
I started off talking about Parkinson's and Alzheimer's back on July 18th, and with no viral notes or anything, I managed to get 800+ subscribers in about 85 days. I noticed that mixing my area and going broad always works and keeps people interested.
Want to do a collab on tinnitus? I can give the MD perspective and you can give the PhD perspective? 😁
That sounds like a great idea. I have a couple of articles lined up. Let me do a research run over the next couple of weeks and I will let you know.
Great! Looking forward to working together
It is a nice explanation very helpful
Thank you 😊
This is also why you don't Google symptoms either 😂 First happened to me about 15 years ago when I woke the family up because I thought the house was on fire. 3am and out in the garden, that was my first experience of parosmia so I googled it.
Google told me I had brain cancer, to make a will and say goodbye to everyone.
The truth was a little less drastic as I've always suffered with sinusitis but now it came with being able to smell the infection but in the form of bonfire smoke. Now, it doesn't happen all the time but it's an early warning sign that a sinus infection is coming.
I dread the day when I have a sinus infection and there is a real fire though because I'll just sleep through it.
You wrote this at the exact time I’ve been working on an article about how I once helped a woman who was struggling with hair loss, dizziness, and joint pain that had become truly debilitating. When she first turned to Google-educated nutritionists, the results were terrifying and ... honestly ... not very helpful.
That’s the problem with surface-level answers online (and yes, even AI can be guilty of this). These tools often just echo every possible condition, creating panic instead of clarity. I don’t claim to give medical advice ... even though I used to teach medical doctors about cancer and other diseases ... but I try to share what I know so people can take that information and have more meaningful conversations with their doctors.
With phantom smells or parosmia, what I really want to get across is: this can have neurological connections, sometimes involving damage in the smell pathways. Getting it checked, or at least making your doctor aware of it, really matters. If the damage is curable, the phantom smell should go away. It should not last more than 1-2 years (max)
I’m currently digging into research linking phantom smells to conditions like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, and I plan to put together a factual, science-grounded piece on that. And yes — I’ll be covering the COVID connection next week too. There’s a lot of solid data there.
Thank you for sharing your story — your 3 a.m. “fire alarm” moment is exactly why this topic needs clearer, real-world conversations.
My background was medicine in the military so I did know to treat it with some scepticism, but as you point out, fear sells and the internet thrives on that, even back then too. I think what you cover is amazing, though I don't think I could really cover what I taught (Battlefield trauma and STD's 😆) though the former did set me on the path to mental health and Neurodiversity.
I'll echo your points too around the fact when it first happens it is scary because in my case, it came out of nowhere. But how important it is to get these things checked out as more often than not, it's easily treatable or explainable.
Would love to read your piece on that when it's done too because it's an interesting topic and given my work is around Neurodiversity, how the brain can be wired differently has always fascinated me. I've started my research too on the framework so soon my posts will start switching to being more research based.
I appreciate it! Reading this explanation about the science and nuances of smells and smelling was truly informative.
Thank you so much!! 😊 I really think people should learn more about this. Some just ignore these smells, but they can actually point to deeper neurological issues or even be early signs of diseases like Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s. These smells usually appear because of some kind of tissue or nerve damage ... often it heals on its own, but not always. That’s why talking to a doctor is so important. I’m also working on another article about this in relation to COVID, since a lot of new studies have come out. I’ll be sending it out next week ... still finishing it up! ✨
It's insightful, well-written, and researched, as usual! Is this a similar occurrence with taste, too? How cilantro tastes like soap to some people?
That’s such a great question Shannon ... cilantro is a special case.
What’s happening there isn’t usually “phantom” taste but rather a genetic difference. Some people have a variation or a mutation in a smell taste receptor gene (OR6A2) that makes them extra sensitive to certain aldehydes ... these aldehydes are natural compounds in cilantro. Those aldehydes happen to be the same ones found in some soaps… so to their brains, cilantro = soap.
Phantom or distorted taste (called phantogeusia or parageusia) can happen too, often for similar reasons as smell distortion ... nerve damage, infections, sinus issues, even neurological conditions. But cilantro soap taste is more about how genes and genetics.
Great question .... it’s one of the best everyday examples of how taste and smell are both personal and biological. 🌿✨
Great article. Thanks fir the clarity and depth. Very useful! 😊
Thank you so much!