Study in Nature Human Behaviour Reveals Humans Identify Smells in 0.06 Seconds

Oct 14, 2024, 03:07 PM

A recent study published in Nature Human Behaviour reveals that humans can identify smells significantly faster than previously believed. Researchers Zhou et al. found that humans are capable of distinguishing between different odor sequences within a single sniff, with a precision of milliseconds. This discovery challenges previous assumptions about the human sense of smell, which had been difficult to study due to the complexity of creating precise odor sequences. The study indicates that humans can identify smells in just 0.06 seconds, which is a third of the time it takes to blink.