Anxiety seems to help people to smell the threats | Fitness for Health

A small study finds feel anxious increases the ability to detect potentially dangerous odors.

Anxiety improves a person?s ability to smell odors potentially dangerous, according to a recent study.

The smell is essential for animals to detect, locate and identify predators. The odors also trigger powerful emotional responses in humans, the authors of the study.


Researchers Elizabeth Krusemark and Wen Li of the University of Wisconsin at Madison and 14 young adults exposed to different types of odors while undergoing brain MRI. Anxiety levels and breathing patterns of the participants also were recorded.

The ability to detect odors negative participants with increased anxiety. The researchers also found that communication between the sensory and emotional areas of the brain increased in response to negative odors, especially when people were anxious.

Improved communication between these brain areas could be an important mechanism for increasing awareness of potential threats the researchers said.

The study appears in a recent issue of the magazine online Chemosensory Perception.

Source: http://corefitnessandhealth.com/2012/03/anxiety-seems-to-help-people-to-smell-the-threats.html

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