How Smell, Taste & Pheromone-Like Chemicals Control You

About this video

Huberman explains how smell, taste, and pheromone-like chemicals influence behavior, often below awareness. In the slices, Huberman discusses ammonia inhalants, or smelling salts, pointing listeners to a randomized controlled trial published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research in 2018 which, he reports, found a significant psyching-up effect and significant increases in maximal force and force development in trained men. Huberman also corrects a myth: he says it is fiction that we cannot smell in dreams, explaining that people can sniff and perceive odors in sleep, especially early in the night, while in REM sleep the ability to wake in response to odors is diminished though not absent, partly, he explains, because of the healthy paralysis of REM atonia. Huberman notes a clinical implication he describes: a sniff response to an odor is one way clinicians assess whether an unconscious patient’s brain retains capacity to recover. He closes by noting chemical signals pass between bodies through air, skin-to-skin contact, and tears.

Key takeaways

• Huberman cites a 2018 trial reporting smelling salts increased maximal force in trained men.
• Huberman says the claim that we cannot smell in dreams is fiction.
• Huberman explains that odor responsiveness is diminished but not absent in REM sleep.
• Huberman describes the sniff reflex as a clinical sign used in assessing unconscious patients.
• Huberman notes that pheromone-like signals can pass through air, skin contact, and tears.

Episode details: published June 21, 2021 · 248.3K views · 1:59:41 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. The science and protocols described are Andrew Huberman’s, presented for education — not medical advice. Consult a qualified professional before changing your own health practices.

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