Friday, October 23, 2015

Your new word for today: phantosmia

It sounds a little like the phenomena of the phantom limb, that often hangs around when people lose their real one; but I hadn't heard of phantom smells before:
It occurs in people who lose the sense of smell. People with phantosmia imagine smells which can be odd, unnatural, unpleasant or even euphoric. It is a rare condition which can occur in relation to brain injuries, strokes, seizures, schizophrenia, Parkinson’s disease and other neurological disorders. 
From a recent episode of the Science Show.  You can read more in the transcript that is at the link on this page.

1 comment:

Not Trampis said...

PM had something along these lines a while ago.

A study found losing your sense of smell actually increased your chances of death.

That stinks!