[Versione italiana – Respiriamo in modo diverso se sentiamo gli odori o meno?]

A new study published in Nature Communications [Gorodisky, L., Honigstein, D., Weissbrod, A. et al. Humans without a sense of smell breathe differently. Nat Commun 15, 8809 (2024)] has found that people who can smell breathe differently than those who can’t. Researchers monitored the breathing patterns of 31 people with a normal sense of smell and 21 people born without a sense of smell (congenital anosmia) for 24 hours.

The researchers found that people with a normal sense of smell take an average of 240 more “exploratory sniffs” per hour than people without a sense of smell. These are small, unconscious inhalations that occur on top of regular breathing. During sleep, when people are less aware of odors, these sniffs decrease.

However, other factors, such as the variation in the volume of inhalation, differed significantly between the two groups, even during sleep. These differences were such that the researchers were able to determine a person’s sense of smell with 83% accuracy simply by analyzing their breathing pattern.

For those who work with perfumes and aromatherapy, it has always been clear that breathing is intimately connected with smelling; in my courses I often say that breathing is somehow a “precursor” to smell, or that in any case we cannot think of one without the other.

The point is that the quality of breathing has an impact on our general well-being, both physical and mental, and these new studies confirm that the ability to smell pleasant odors expands the “desire to breathe”.

If we allow ourselves a symbolic reading for a moment, it is clear how good smells (for us) are an invitation to breathe, to take in air, to give ourselves space to feel ourselves and recover our sensitivity. It is an essential physical and inner dimension for our well-being, and it becomes perhaps even more important now that we live in continuous contact with technological tools. Perhaps we can have some breaks, taking a plant or a fruit in our hands, and giving ourselves the time and space to feel the pleasure that can derive from it with all our senses, starting with our nose.