How to master your sense of smell - Alexandra Horowitz

翻译人员: Huixin Wang 校对人员: Cissy Yun

调香师可以从百种气味构成的

Perfumers can learn to distinguish individual odors

in a fragrance made of hundreds of scents.

香味中辨别单种味道。

Tea experts have been known to sniff out

茶叶专家不仅可以辨别

not just the location where a tea was from,

茶叶的来源，

but the season of harvest and whether it was planted by a plum tree.

还有收获季节和它周围的树种。

And the New York City Transit Authority

纽约城市运输当局

once had an employee responsible only for sniffing out gas leaks

在地铁系统中， 曾经有一名员工唯一的职责

in the subway system.

就是找出哪里有泄露管道。

Can just anyone learn to smell with the sensitivity of those experts?

任何人经过训练都能达到 这些专家一样的嗅觉灵敏度吗？

For most of us, what we smell is largely involuntary,

我们中的大多数人 都是被动闻到气味的，

whether it's garbage behind a restaurant,

不论这味道来自餐馆后面的垃圾，

the shampoo of the woman leaving an elevator as you enter,

当你进入电梯与离开的女士 擦肩而过时飘来的发香，

or a bakery's fresh-made bread.

还是烘焙店新鲜出炉的面包。

With a few million olfactory receptors in our noses,

在我们的鼻子里， 存在着几百万个气味感受器，

we clearly don't lack the ability to smell well.

我们很明显并不缺少嗅觉灵敏的能力。

We just might not always pay close enough attention.

我们只是不能集中足够的注意力。

That's a shame because we may be missing opportunities

有点可惜，因为我们可能一直在错失机会

去建立强大的情感连接。

to make strong emotional connections.

Smells are powerfully linked to emotions

气味与情感是紧密相连的，

and can awaken memories of places we've long ago left

它可以削弱我们对于离开很久的地方，

and people we've loved.

和我们爱过的人的记忆。

But fortunately, it is possible to train our brains to smell better.

所幸，我们可以训练 我们的大脑更好的识别气味。

For example, Helen Keller was able to recognize a person's work,

比如说，盲女海伦凯勒 可以识别一个人的工作，

and in her words,

用她的话讲就是，

distinguish the carpenter from the iron worker,

区别木工和铁匠，

the artist from the mason or the chemist,

石匠艺术家还是化学家，

by a simple inhale.

只需要简单的吸一口气。

Follow these steps and you too can change the way the world smells to you.

跟着以下的步骤，你也可以 改变世界呈现气味给你的方式。

First, stick your nose in it.

第一步：凑近你的鼻子。

Some animals that are known to be great smellers,

一些动物拥有很好的嗅觉，

like dogs who can sniff out explosives

像狗可以寻找爆炸物，

and pigs who can find truffles underground,

猪可以找到埋在地下的松露。

put their noses right at the place they want to smell.

只需要把它们的鼻子 放在想要闻的地方。

Human noses, meanwhile, are casting around in the middle of the air,

而与此同时，人类的鼻子被至于半空中，

giving us an anatomical disadvantage.

成为了我们生理剖析学上的一个劣势。

So bring your nose close to the world around you.

所以带着你的鼻子去接近周围的世界吧。

The ground,

土地，

surfaces,

各种表层，

objects,

物体，

the food in your hand.

手中的食物。

Get close to your dog,

还有你的小狗，

your partner,

你的爱人，

the book you're reading.

你在读的书。

Not only will your nose be closer to the odor source,

你的鼻子不仅仅会离这些气味源更近，

but the warmth of your breath will make odors easier to smell.

呼气时的温度也会使得气味更容易识别。

Second, sniff like you mean it.

第二点：把嗅识当成你的需要。

事实上嗅的过程发生在我们的鼻梁附近，

Smelling actually happens way up near the bridge of our noses

in a postage stamp-sized square of tissue called the olfactory epithelium.

位于一个邮票大小的 方形组织，叫做嗅上皮。

当我们嗅的时候，香味分子 被吸入到我们的鼻孔，

When we sniff, odor molecules are sucked up into our nostrils

until they hit this tissue

直到撞击到这个组织，

where they combine to our olfactory, or scent, receptors.

在这里它们与我们的嗅觉， 或者叫气味接收器结合。

When we inhale normally, only a little air makes it there.

当我们正常的吸气时， 仅仅有很少的空气到达这里。

But one or two solid sharp sniffs

但是一至两个深呼吸，

will ensure that more air gets to your smell receptors.

将确保更多的空气 进入你的气味接收器。

在几次嗅的动作后，

After just a few more sniffs,

the receptors, which are best at noticing new smells,

发现新气味能力极佳的接收器

turn off temporarily.

会暂时的关闭。

这时候你可以让你的鼻子休息， 之后再继续进行嗅识。

So you can give your nose a rest and sniff again later.

Finally, dwell on the smell.

最后一点：停留并专注于气味。

Most smells pass by us with little attention,

我们在经过大多数的气味时 只付出一点点注意力，

but simply noticing what you're smelling

但是试着仅仅注意你闻到的气味，

and by trying to describe it, name it, and locate its source,

试着去描述它，命名它， 并且定位它的来源。

you can expand your vocabulary of smells.

这样就可以扩大你的气味词汇。

When an odor molecule binds to a scent receptor,

当一个气味分子与气味感受器结合时，

it sends an electrical signal from the sensory neurons

它从感觉神经元发射一个电信号

到我们的大脑嗅球部位上。

to our brain's olfactory bulbs.

The signal then continues to other areas of the brain,

信号继续到达其他的大脑区域，

where it's integrated with taste,

这些区域与味觉，

memory,

记忆，

或者情感的信息相结合，

or emotional information

before registering to us as a smell.

这些都发生在我们 得到嗅觉的反馈之前。

FMRI research shows that the extra time spent focusing on scent

FMRI成像显示专注于气味而 额外花费的时间

changes the brain of experienced smellers.

改变了大脑的嗅觉经验。

For them, perceiving and imagining odors becomes more automatic

对于专家，接受和想象气味 与非专家相比，

变得更加自主化。

than for non-experts.

To get started yourself, take ingredients from your kitchen:

进行自学培训的时候， 从你的厨房找些原料：

spices,

香料，

vanilla,

or fruit,

香草精华，

或者水果，

but never anything toxic.

但是千万不要试任何有毒的东西。

Close your eyes and have someone bring them under your nose.

闭上你的眼睛，让别人拿起 其中一样放到你的鼻子下面。

Sniff and try to name the source.

闻一闻，并且试着命名来源。

Over time, you'll begin to appreciate nuances in familiar odors

一段时间后，你将能够鉴别 一些熟悉气味间的细小差别，

and recognize characteristics of new and unusual smells.

并且识别一些新的和特殊的气味特征。

The perfumer has practiced these steps enough to become an artist of odor,

调香师都会反复练习这些步骤 直到变成气味艺术家，

but even if you never pursue smelling to that degree,

但是即使你从来不会 追求嗅觉达到那样的程度，

the spectacular result of an unspectacular action

无意识的动作所引发的惊人效果

will change how you sense and experience your days.

将改变你如何感知和经历你的时光。