Why do they use so much perfume?

Why do our elderly always have a strong smell? whether that's in their house, car or on their bodies, senior's tend to use too much air freshers. There's an interesting logic behind the smell of grandma's house. In a way it's not just because she's aging in the way we think. As our bodies get older our senses do too. Our olfactory lobes, which are above our nose, shown in the picture,  process what we smell. People, usually over 60, start to loose the ability to distinguish smells and find it hard to distinguish them all together.

In a study done at the University of Colorado Denver, published in an issue of the Neurobiology of Aging they found a confirmed difference in the ability for young adults ability to distinguish two smell's compared to those over the age of 60. The smell's blended together for those over 60 years old. If you would like to read more about this study click the SienceDaily link below. And next time there's the strong smell at your loved ones house, remember and be sensitive to the idea that they may simply not notice.



ScienceDaily
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111110130104.htm

University of Colorado Denver. "Elderly lose ability to distinguish between odors, researcher finds; Smells blend together, pose hazards." ScienceDaily, 10 Nov. 2011. Web. 9 Jan. 2012. 

Nancy E. Rawson, George Gomez, Beverly J. Cowart, Andres Kriete, Edmund Pribitkin, Diego Restrepo. Age-associated loss of selectivity in human olfactory sensory neurons. Neurobiology of Aging, 2011; DOI: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2011.09.036