Quotidian Reference: That eponymous scene in the movie "Ratatouille":
Neuroscience: Smell is the most primitive of the senses. Think upon a single celled organism's need to hone in on a chemical gradient to navigate to a food source or away from a toxic source. When a memory is associated with a smell, it bypasses all your higher brain functions and transports you back to the first time that smell was imprinted on you. If something smells good to you, it will make you happy almost no matter what!
If you are around family or really good friends, how much of that lowering-of-the-blood-pressure, that almost immediate sense of satisfaction, might be due to some pheromones or other unrecognized-by-your-conscious-brain olfactory stimuli?
Why do mammals nuzzle and kiss their young all over? We are all just imprinting our cookie and ratatouille smells with feelings of belonging and love!
A kiss is not just a kiss, is it?
No comments:
Post a Comment