The olfactory capacities of human beings are vastly superior to those which are used. But with a small glass of alcohol, they would seem to improve. Israeli researchers from Weizmann Institute of Science conducted a study, published by the journal Behavioral Brain Research, in which they explain the mechanisms of the influence of alcohol on smell.
Scientists asked 20 healthy people to smell and differentiate liquids after drinking grape juice. The same test was performed a few days later, after giving a glass of grape juice mixed with 35ml of vodka to participants in study. The olfactory improvement was observed from the consumption of a glass of alcohol.
No more than one glass of alcohol
Indeed, it is the receptor neurons for odorous molecules that send a nervous message to the olfactory cortex of the brain so that it identifies these smells. Alcohol causes inhibition of the brain’s prefrontal cortex, allowing the olfactory system to function better. On the other hand, by repeating this experiment with 45 people met in pubs and having drunk more than 0.6g / L, the researchers noticed that large quantities of alcohol deteriorate the sense of smell.