Washington: An olfactory scientist has provided an explanation as to why wintry weather brings its own set of smells.
Pamela Dalton, an olfactory scientist at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia, said that one reason for this phenomena could be that the molecules of odour traverse much slowly as the air becomes colder drops, which means that there are fewer smells to smell on a cold day than on a hot and humid one, Discovery News reported.
Dalton said that people`s noses don`t work as well when the ambient air is cold.
Alan Hirsch, a neurologist and psychiatrist in Chicago, said that cold air also stimulates the irritant-sensitive trigeminal nerve, which is what makes you cry when you chop an onion.
He said that when odours stimulate both the trigeminal nerve and the olfactory nerve, the experience becomes much more intense.
