Stereo smelling

We see in stereo, we hear in stereo, we also smell in stereo.

In this study, participants were given a flowery smell at a high concentration in one nostril, and low in the other. Then they looked at a 'visually presented optic-flow stimuli that simulated self-movement' - basically a video that looks as if you are flying through star-filled space. When asked to say which side was a stronger smell, they could not say. But when asked to which side they were flying through space, they consistently guessed towards the more smelly side. The authors suggest that we evolved a sense of smell for 'navigating in a chemical world'.

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