As the childhood tune goes: your nose brain’s connected to your… ear brain?!
This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.
Why do certain culinary aromas make our ears perk up?
Nathan Vogler and team at the University of Pennsylvania investigated.
They identified a direct connection between the smell and sound processing centers in the brain! In mice, auditory cells were nearly thirty four percent more active when given only a scent cue! After silencing the “smell cells”, the auditory neurons stopped responding to given odors!
Does this mean you can hear your food just by smelling it? Not quite!
But, we have a better understanding of how the brain integrates various sensory information!
Now I must go! A souffle is calling my name!
Reference: Vogler, N. W., Chen, R., Virkler, A., Tu, V. Y., Gottfried, J. A., & Geffen, M. N. (2024). Direct Piriform-to-Auditory Cortical Projections Shape Auditory–Olfactory Integration. Journal of Neuroscience, 44(49). https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1140-24.2024