The cacophony of scents and odours in the world can be detected by a small patch of tissue in the roof of your nasal cavity called the olfactory epithelium. Within this are millions of olfactory sensory cells that patiently await odour chemicals binding to their receptors, triggering an electrical impulse that moves along nerves to a structure in the brain called the olfactory bulb. It’s estimated that the average person can smell more than a trillion scents, but for a small number of people, sensitivity to these smells is greatly increased.
Scent receptors in the nose renew every 28 days