Imagine if we could inhale scents that delay the onset of cancer, inflammation, or neurodegenerative disease. Researchers at the University of California, Riverside, are poised to bring this futuristic technology closer to reality.

In lab experiments, a team led by Anandasankar Ray, a professor of molecular, cell and systems biology, exposed the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) to diacetyl, a microbial volatile compound released by yeast, and found changes in gene expression in the fly’s antennae in just a few days. In separate experiments, the team found similar gene expression changes in mice and human cells.

— Read more in Sniffing our way to better health at UC Riverside. Hat tip to Bill!

A battery of neuropsychological tests was then used to compare the volunteers' memory, verbal learning, planning, and attention-switching skills before and after the six-month trial.

Astonishingly, there was a clear 226 percent difference between the responses provided by those who were exposed to a variety of fragrances and individuals in the control group. A scan of their brains also revealed a significant change in the anatomy linking areas of the brain critical in memory and thinking within the test group.

—  Read more in Brain Function Dramatically Boosted by Certain Fragrances During Sleep at Science Alert.

In the captivating realm of human senses, the idea that our ability to feel pain and smell could be intertwined seems like a plot twist from a science fiction novel. However, recent research has uncovered a fascinating link between the two, with insights emerging from the lives of individuals who, against all odds, cannot feel physical pain.

— Read more in People Who Don't Feel Pain Also Can't Smell at Psychology Today.

The findings suggest that the brain does make use of the different arrival times. When an odour was delivered to a single nostril, the side of the brain closest to that nostril reacted first, and a reaction then followed in the opposite side of the brain. “There seem to be actually two odour representations, corresponding to odour information coming from each nostril,” [neuroscientist Naz] Dikecligil says.

When the researchers provided a scent to both nostrils simultaneously, they saw that both sides of the brain recognized the scent faster than either did when it was delivered through only one nostril. This suggests that the two sides do synergize to some degree, even though one lags behind the other in encoding a scent, Dikecligil says.

— Read more in You smell your coffee in stereo: the brain records an odour’s spatial information at Nature.