The role of smell in child development
Researchers from the University of Wrocław have won several grants from the National Science Center in the OPUS and SONATA competitions decided in May worth a total of PLN 24,675,537.
Among them is dr hab. prof. UWr Anna Oleszkiewicz – professor at the Department of Experimental Social Psychology at the Institute of Psychology at the University of Wrocław (Faculty of Historical and Pedagogical Sciences).
For the research on “Rozwój zdolności węchowych a rozwój poznawczy i emocjonalny dzieci w wieku przedszkolnym – badanie podłużne” [“Development of olfactory abilities and cognitive and emotional development of preschool children – a longitudinal study”] she received PLN 1,279,292.
In her scientific work, she studies the determinants of olfactory ability and the possibilities of smell rehabilitation. She is a promoter of the importance of smell for human psychological well-being. As part of the funding received, she will verify the assumption that the olfactory development of children of preschool age is linked to their cognitive and emotional development. This is the fourth OPUS grant received by the researcher.
Together with prof. Agnieszka Sorokowska, among others, she is also collaborating with teams at Jena University and Charles University in Prague that are studying the role of smell in building parent-child relationships.
Environmental pollutant smog and its effects on the sense of smell were the subjects of her previous OPUS (20th edition). “We already have the first results of studies conducted in 11 regions of the world, which confirm that air pollution contributes to the deterioration of olfactory sensitivity”, says our researcher.
In previous years, prof. Oleszkiewicz’s research has also examined, among other things, whether blind and deaf people have better/worse sense of smell and taste, and how potential sensory compensation (an increase in sensitivity of one sense as a result of the loss of another) affects social relationships and functioning in their daily lives.
Prof. Anna Oleszkiewicz is also a recipient of the START scholarship from the Foundation for Polish Science, a scholarship for outstanding young researchers, an award from the German Otorhinolaryngology Society, and the “30 kreatywnych Wrocławia” [“30 Creative of Wrocław”] Award. She has authored nearly 100 research articles of international scope.
Read more about the latest project here.
Translated by Aleksandra Chowaniec (student of English Studies at the University of Wrocław) as part of the translation practice.
