The Arqus Podcast featuring prof. Anna Oleszkiewicz
Can a scent make you happy? In the lastest episode of Arqus Knowledge Pills podcast psychologist Anna Oleszkiewicz, professor at the University of Wrocław shares her thoughts on the subject.
Our sense of smell is very important for our mental well-being. Prof. Anna Oleszkiewicz explains how they are linked together.
Prof. Oleszkiewicz investigates how sense of smell impacts our ability to function socially and psychologically. She is currently working on improving the so called “Sniffin’ Sticks” tests, which are an important tool in smell training. About 5% of the general population suffer from impaired sense of smell, while for another 20% their sense of smell is severely impaired. Prof. Oleszkiewicz’s goal is to merge medical knowledge about human sense of smell with psychological sciences more tightly.
Anna Oleszkiewicz is an assistant professor at the University of Wrocław’s Department of Experimental Social Psychology. Her aim is to achieve an understanding of how the human sense of smell works in it’s impaired and healthy states. A number of scientific studies have confirmed the importance of the phylogenetically oldest sense, the sense of smell, in the proper social, psychical and physical functioning of humans. The basic premise for this connection is neuroanatomy. Olfactory inputs are transformed from chemical into electrical stimuli in the olfactory epithelium area, then via the olfactory bulb they travel to the piriform cortex, amygdaloid complex (responsible for emotional processes in humans) and to the hippocampus (responsible for memory). The psychological consequences of losing sense of smell are particularly severe, as individuals suffering from sense of smell are more prone to be diagnosed with depression and experience worsening of both their quality of life and interpersonal relationships. Loss of smell is also an early sign of developing neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.
This podcast is the 13th episode of the regularly published Arqus Knowledge Pills scientific podcasts, in which Arqus alliance scientists talk about their research and challenges faced in contemporary science.
Gerhild Leljak (University of Graz) and Pietro Osti (University of Padua) moderate the interviews.
All episodes are available on Spotify and other similar platforms.
Take a listen!
Translated by Paweł Klimczak (student of English Studies at the University of Wrocław) as part of the translation practice.
