How our sense of smell affects social interactions

I feel sorry for those who lost their sense of smell after contracting Covid. I think most people regained that sense, but it would be awful to lose it permanently! It not only affects our enjoyment of food and perception of our surroundings, but it also plays an important role in our social interactions. It turns out that our body odors convey information to others—all subconsciously, of course.

Researchers can now use behavioral measures, brain imaging and molecular biology to test how odors affect people. Here are some interesting factoids revealed through their studies:

• Most new mothers were able to identify their babies by their smell after spending as little as 10 minutes together, and newborns can recognize their mothers.
• People can match pairs of identical twins by their body odor, even if the siblings live apart.
• People who smell similar to each other were more likely to enjoy chatting with one another.
• Women’s brains reacted more strongly when they smelled the sweat of men who played an aggressively competitive game, than they did after smelling the odors of men who had just enjoyed a calm construction game.
• People with a better sense of smell had a larger social network and more friends. fMRI studies revealed that the same brain circuits may be involved in both our sense of smell and the size of our social circle.
• Sniffing women’s tears makes men less aggressive.

This last one is interesting. Conducting the study was a challenge because of the difficulty of collecting tears from donors. Researchers needed at least one milliliter (a quarter of a teaspoon) of tears for the experiment. Onions didn’t work because irritants create a different type of tears, so researchers had to find volunteers who cry easily, then had them watch sad movies. Testing men’s reactions to tears required game playing and MRI brain scans. Researchers found that when men sniffed the women’s tears, they were 44 percent less aggressive in the game than when they sniffed a saline solution. Also, the region of the brain associated with aggression showed less activity.

Someone should manufacture those tear ingredients and rain it down on some groups. I can think of lots of candidates.

For an introduction to this blog, see I Just Say No; for a list of blog topics, click the Topics tab.

That stupid pain scale

You know the one: 

 
I refuse to have my blood pressure taken at doctors’ offices (I’ve gotten no pushback on that one). Next, if I have the opportunity, I’m going to refuse to rate my pain on that stupid scale. (Dr. Brian Mandell, Editor in Chief of the Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine, calls the scale “silly.”) There are plenty of reasons for this:

• In the mid-1990s, the rating scale was aggressively pushed as a fifth vital sign by the American Pain Society (now defunct)—a group that was created by Purdue and other opioid manufacturers. They were successful: hospitals now include the pain scale as a vital sign along with temperature, pulse rate, respiration rate, and blood pressure.
• Unlike the four vital signs mentioned above, pain rating is subjective.
• Adoption of the pain rating scale “…has not measurably altered pain outcomes,” according to studies reported in the Pain Management Nursing journal.  
• Pain control can be linked with hospital reimbursements. Hospitals with lower patient satisfaction rates are reimbursed at lower rates by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid. To increase satisfaction ratings, providers feel pressure to prescribe opioids to ensure patient satisfaction with pain care.
• In 2016, the American Medical Association voted to stop treating pain as the fifth vital sign.

The Cleveland Clinic doc says, “I suspect that most of my peers function in the outpatient clinic as I do, without much interest in what was recorded on the intake pain scale.” If he thinks that scale is silly, why shouldn’t I?

For an introduction to this blog, see I Just Say No; for a list of blog topics, click the Topics tab.

Basal cognition and cancer

Basal cognition is a new field. Scientists are discovering that all cells—not just those in the brain—are intelligent. That is, they’re capable of learning, memory, and problem-solving. They’re constantly evaluating their surroundings, making decisions about what to let in and what to keep out and planning their next steps. They do this by using subtle changes in electric fields.

Plants are a good example of  basal cognition. They perceive their world and use that information to get what they need—a key component of intelligence. For example, they can detect the sound of running water and will grow toward it; when they detect the sound of bee’s wings they’ll produce nectar in preparation. This photo, showing “shyness of the crown,” is another example of plants’ “intelligence.”

Even slime mold is an excellent problem solver. In a complicated experiment, researchers showed that, through training, slime mold can overcome its aversion to caffeine—which it hates—to get to oatmeal, which it likes.

All cells within our bodies work in synchrony, thanks to the continuous information exchange that allows them to maintain equilibrium. That equilibrium is partly modulated through interconnected bio-electrical circuits. Scientists now accept that cancer is characterized by malfunctions in that circuitry. Stress, chemicals, and genetic mutation can all cause a breakdown of normal cellular communication, causing cancer cells to stop receiving their orders and go rogue. Manipulating a cell’s bioelectric properties might make it possible stop tumors from growing.

Scientists are also exploring how understanding basal cognition can inform artificial intelligence and create robots that can “learn about the world by poking it.”  Then what?

For an introduction to this blog, see I Just Say No; for a list of blog topics, click the Topics tab.

The 30-Second Power Test

I came across this information in the January 23^rd edition of The New York Times. Apologies to those who have already read this. Although I'm a regular exerciser, I usually avoid writing about it. The topic can be tiresome. But I was curious to see what the 30-second power test was.

According to the article, in addition to cardio, strength, and balance exercises, you also need power—the ability to apply force rapidly, using fast-twitch muscle fibers in short, explosive bursts. Power gives you the ability to lift a suitcase into an overhead compartment and gets you up from a chair. It also allows you to quickly recover if you trip and stumble.  If you’re unable to quickly step up onto a curb, that’s a lack of power.

To find out if you’re losing power, take the sit-to-stand test. Sit in a chair with a straight back and no arm rests and cross your arms over your chest. Start a timer for 30 seconds and count how many times you can move from sitting to standing. 

Men over 65 should be able to do 12 or more. Women over 65 should do 11 or more.

I was reluctant to try it because I thought it would hurt my knees. At age 87, with plenty of aches and pains, I was surprised to find that I had no trouble doing 12 of these moves in fairly quick succession and also that the moves didn’t hurt my knees. I passed the test. I’m sure this sit-to-stand exercise is good for you and that I should do it every day. But I’m also sure that I won’t.

For an introduction to this blog, see I Just Say No; for a list of blog topics, click the Topics tab.