Austin Hall, Nirmal Menon & Damien Cunningham

1: How does the brain receive auditory data?

The brain interprets auditory information by deciphering the data from the ears and sending it through a complex network of pathways to the brainstem and thalamus. Information extracted by these structures is used to determine the identity and location of the sound source. The information is then filtered again through the auditory cortex where intricate links are made to the prefrontal cortex, which attaches meaning to the auditory information.

2: what are the interesting links between the senses you chose to investigate

An interesting link between Hearing and the other senses we chose, Taste and Smell are the relation to one or another form an auditory stimulus. Often simply the sound of something will remind us of a certain smell that we have experienced. Particularly with the consumption of food which is rich in information for all senses, we can link experiences of one exact sense to another sensation albeit perceived, the memories associate dominant factors of an experience to create link to another sensation.

3: What can be drawn from the arts and culture where this set of senses is investigated / called upon.

We use sound to communicate information, whether it be a grunt to convey anger from prehistoric man over a piece of meat or the sound information used for data transfer in the modern context, our hearing is a vital sense used to receive information, we have evolved with this sense to ultimately make better choices in our lives. In a modern framework we use sound and our sense of it for many varied reasons, it is an important part of our social construct whereby it is called upon for creative expression and experiences i.e. music whilst simultaneously enabling us to communicate information in new ways.

4: A series of experiments which explore the potential of these senses in particular their combination

Exp 1; Created environment composed of Auditory, Olfactory and Gustatory information aimed at exploring perception of the senses.

The observer, blindfolded, experiences the common sound of bitting into and apple whilst having a piece of lime placed under their nose. The observer is asked to consume a pulp prepared from a common fruit, the prepared pulp changes the common association of the shape and taste of the fruit.

Exp 2; Created environment composed of Auditory, Olfactory and Gustatory information aimed at exploring perception of a common sensation.

Whilst playing classical music, often associated with quality and refinement, and inexpensive bathroom air freshener should fill the air which is often interpreted as low quality. The observers expectation of a fine chocolate could change with a contrasting or confusing combination of senses.

Exp 3; Created sonic environment aimed at exploring common associations of sound to meaning of objects and colours.

Three monotones to be played, Low frequency, Mid frequency and High frequency. The observer whilst blindfolded is asked to associate the three tones with three shapes, a square, a circle and a triangle, the shapes are also coloured a white square, a green circle and a black triangle. An outcome of relating low frequencies to fuller shapes, relating mid frequency tones to rounded objects and relating higher frequencies to sharp objects is expected. Remove the blindfold and ask the observer to associate the sounds again, with a visual element now added.

Exp 4; Created environment composed of Auditory and Olfactory sensation.

The observer listens to the sound of thunder and rain, is this associated with the olfactory sensation of freshness in the air created after a thunderstorm.


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Smell

The sense of smell is called Olfaction, it is the detection of chemicals dissolved in air., psychological factors can play a part in its perception as well.
Smells come from volatile (easy to evaporate) chemical molecules, making their way to your nose. This is why some solids like steel has no smell, nothing evaporates from it, it is non-volatile. At the top of the nasal passage behind the nose rest a group of hair like protrusions called cilia. Molecules that bind onto cilia trigger neurons to make u perceive smell.
Odors molecules send messages to the limbic system which governs emotional responses. Hence smell can alter moods, evoke memories, raise and dampen spirits and self confidence.
Odors can affect sleep, stress, alertness, interactions and feelings of well being, hence aromatherapy is often used to change ones state of mind.

Pheromones are odors that are used for communication, usually between bees or animals in heat. In general, pheromones don’t seem to influence humans on a similar scale.

Current technology is in the works to mimic the human nose and analyze smell, it is used largely in the perfume industry. There are still problems in getting this to work as well as the industry would like them to. Police forces also want to use this technology for bomb detection.

Smell, taste and trigeminal receptors work together to give us the sensation of flavour. The tongue can distinguish 4 distinct tastes, the nose then adds more information to it giving carious foods different flavours. Hence food has little to no taste when the nose is blocked.

Smell disorders;
Anosmia: Lack of ability to smell
Hyposmia: Decreased ability to smell
Phantosmia: hallucinated smells
Dysosmia: things smell differently that they should

Anosmia/ Hyposmia can be temporary or permanent also it is possible that one can be anosmic towards one specific odor. While there are usually no significant problems associated with this, it could mean there is a cancerous growth near the receptors. Loosing the sense can bring feelings of depression. In some cases this leads to a loss of libido and can reach impotency.

Phantosmia: Smelling things that aren’t really present, usually unpleasant such asrotting flesh, vomit and so on. This often happens because of damage to the tissues that process smells. It can be caused by viral infections, trauma, surgery, epilepsy and toxins or drugs. Its believed to have psychiatric roots.
Culture:
Perfumes/cologne
Wine
The qualities of these products are judged on their smell, obviously more so in cologne and perfumes than in wine. In wine the aroma helps classify the style of wine.

Herbs and spices
Fine dining
Kitchens, smells of cooking is expected in some restaurants but shunned in others. It makes or breaks the experience. For example do you really want the overpowering smell of blood in the air at a steak house and would having food at an Indian restaurant be the same without the obvious smell of spices in the air.

Arts:
In 2004 Haque Design and Research made a 3D scent display called Scents of space. The installation had scent dispersers which were computer controlled with the airflow manipulated by fans and diffusion screens.

Scent of apples, Eve by Uriy Kakichev



Associations:

Smell of fresh air; sounds of rain
Smell of mangos, tastes of mangos
Smell of smog, feels like heat
Smell of lemons, look yellow

Experiments:

Linking smell and sound

Exp 1:
Playing a recording of a sound while introducing a smell and asking people to figure out what is going on. i.e. the smell of roses and the sound of people talking suggests a garden party, crackling sound with the smell of bacon suggests breakfast. Then mixing up the two stimuli, smell of grass with the sound of a restaurant and seeing how people perceive it.

Exp 2:
Associations to stimuli on their own could be another experiment. Playing a piece of music and asking people what they link it to. Giving them a scent and asking what memories they have associated with it.


Exp 3:
Select a panel of people, split them in 3, play the same track to all of them with different smells for each group pumped into the room. Talk about the songs later and see if the reactions to the songs vary over the groups.

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Taste

Sweet, sour, bitter, and salty; these are the four basic tastes. Everybody has a taste and smell they like or dislike. Our sense of taste and smell can warn us about the foods we eat. Is it too hot or too cold? Has the milk become sour? Our sense of smell can warn us about danger, too. If you smell gas or smoke, it could lead to fire. There are many types of smells. The brain puts together messages from the taste buds and nasal cavity, allowing us to make out many flavours. Our sense of taste and smell can be affected by many things. If your nose is stuffed up because of a cold or allergy, you often cannot smell anything properly. You probably cannot taste the flavour of your food. Injury to the nose from a fall or sport accident can affect your sense of smell. If the nerves that carry messages from the nose to the brain are damaged, the sense of smell will be much less, and in some cases may be destroyed completely. Smoking cigarettes can also damage the lining of the nasal cavity. It cannot respond to chemicals from the cigarette, so the sense of smell is reduced. As people get older their receptor cells are replaced less often, so their sense of taste and smell gradually become less acute. This partly explains why babies and young children often prefer plain foods and why spicy foods taste much stranger to them than adults.


Taste as a metaphor

Metaphorically, taste is described as having a small amount of experience with something that give a sense of its quality as a whole. Livy is quoted to have said “they had not yet tasted the sweetness of freedom” while Voltaire is quoted to having said “I tasted in her arms the delights of paradise”. The word is often used as a noun in this sense, typically in such expressions as “I got a taste of it” or “It left a bad taste in my mouth.”

ExperimentThere is a direct link between smell and taste. Without smell, things seem tasteless. This experiment aims to prove this. By eliminating the sense of smell, are you still able to know what you’re eating by taste? A participant will wear a blindfold. Their nose pegged, blocking their smell. They will be given an onion to bite…Similar to the above experiment, the participant’s nose will be plugged. They will be presented with 3 pieces of candy all different colours; red, yellow, and green. However, all these pieces of candy are the exact same flavour. Can they tell the difference without their sense of smell?The participant will be given certain smells and asked what they taste like…