Echolocation

 

Echolocation

Echolocation is a technique that is used by some animals to determine the location of different objects in the world around them. I had heard about echolocation before in dolphins. I know dolphins make noises in order to figure out where other dolphins were. There are many different animals that use echolocation such as dolphins, bats, whales, and narwhals. 

After reading chapter one of our book, I was about to learn more about echolocation and I had no idea that even we humans are able to use echolocation. Karl Dallenbach created an experiment where four subjects (two blind and two sighted) were asked to perform a task blindfolded towards a large masonite board and stop right before making contact. After doing these experiments, it was realized that humans can use echolocation just like bats. It is used by humans to be able to hear more detailed properties about objects. Humans have the ability to identify the general shape of an object and even the material of the object by using echolocation. I think this is such an extraordinary skill that animals have and its so cool that humans also use it.  

Anosmia

 

    Anosmia is the loss of the sense of smell through a head injury, infection or a blockage of the nose. Anosmia can be partial or it can be a total loss of smell. In our book, we read about Karl Wuensch who lost his sense of smell. He realized when he was eating a casserole which had gone bad and his family realized how bad it had gone but he had no idea. And later on, he had already lost his sense of smell where he couldn't even smell propane outside until his wife and son had noticed. He worked through a lot of research to find a cure or find some help for anosmia. 

    I had COVID-19 in the winter of 2021. It was a whole new experience of me getting sick because I had never lost my sense of smell before and this freaked me out. I realized I couldn't smell anything or taste anything while I was showering and I couldn't smell my favorite body wash. I was trying my hardest to inhale it and nothing. I was so freaked out, I had no idea what to do. That week that I couldn't smell anything was when I realized how much I take smelling for granted. I couldn't eat any food because I had no taste either and I did not want to eat without having taste. 

    After losing my sense of smell, there are a lot of smells and tastes that don't taste the same as before. It feels like some things are bitter now which I used to enjoy before or some smells make me nauseous. Anosmia is such a scary thing for me because I had no idea it was a problem that affected so many people and there isn't an exact cure for it. I remember looking up everything possible to get my sense of smell back. 

Anosmia

 Anosmia is the loss of sense or smell from a head injury, infection, or blockage of the nose. It can be partial which is called hyposmia or total which is called anosmia. Without a sense of taste food will become bland and it would be hard to tell foods apart. This causes loss of interest in food which in extreme cases will led to weight loss, nutrition problems and even depression. People also have a unique smell like Karl Wuensch explains, which is what he misses most, not being able to smell his friends and family. 

I think most of us experienced COVID-19 and had our taste buds what felt like ripped out from us but I remember when I have COVID a few months ago I had lost my taste and it effected me greatly. I love to cook so not be able to taste any food was the biggest blow. I had trouble eating because eating food truly is boring if you cant taste anything, so I found it hard to just have the will power to force myself to eat. I only was sick and had COVID for a few days but I didn't get my taste back until 2 weeks later and during all of this I was reading stories about how people lost taste permanently after COVID and it made my anxiety sky rocket. Luckily my taste came back and I haven't had any problems since but I will no longer take any of my senses for granted. 

Life of a Sommelier

 A sommelier is a French term used for a wine steward or someone who is professionally trained in wine and wine pairings. They work along side top restaurants and chefs so that these culinary teams have the best possible wine with their food that best complement each other. Professional sommeliers must go through a combination of experience, training, and formal education that takes years and costs thousands of dollars but in order to become a "Master Sommelier", a professional must go to the Court of Master Sommeliers where they will need to pass a multitude of tests that include things like knowing the exact grape a wine is using, where and what region these grapes were grown in, and even how long the wine has aged for, all while being timed. 

I had absolutory no idea that wine was this serious in some parts of the world. I knew that expert wine tasters were a thing, but I didn't know that there was an even more prestigious title of wine tasters that requires years of training and to be able to pass timed exams. Some sources differ a tiny bit, but as of 2017 there are only 250 people around the world that have the diploma of  Master Sommelier and it was created in 1969. These individuals have truly honed all there senses.  

Anosmia and COVID-19

    

     Anosmia, or the loss of the sense of smell, has been recognized as one of the symptoms associated with COVID-19. Many individuals infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, have reported experiencing a sudden and temporary loss of their sense of smell. The exact mechanism behind anosmia in COVID-19 is not yet fully understood, but it is believed to be related to the virus's impact on the olfactory system. The SARS-CoV-2 virus is known to invade the cells of the nasal cavity and the olfactory epithelium, which contains the sensory receptors responsible for detecting odors. This invasion and resulting inflammation can lead to a disruption in the sense of smell.

    When I had COVID I did not recognize my loss of smell until the end of my symptoms. I realized my loss of smell when I was eating dinner at my parent's house and the food tasted off-not how it normally does. I came to the realization that I could not smell anything. My loss of smell had also affected my sense of taste, although my taste was still there it was altered. Weeks passed by and I still had not gained my sense of smell back. Quite honestly it was becoming a burden. 2 months have gone by and I have yet to gain my smell back and then by the third month my smell started to come back slowly and faintly. I gained compassion for people who had to go longer than three months.

Echolocation: How Sound Waves Work

 

Structured reflected sound is where sound waves are intentionally manipulated or shaped by objects in an environment, and the resulting echoes or reflections provide meaningful information about the properties of those objects. This process involves the interaction of sound waves with the surfaces, shapes, and materials of objects, which can lead to the identification of their size, shape, texture, distance, and other characteristics.

An example of how the brain uses structured reflected sound to perceive properties of silent objects can be found in echolocation used by certain animals, such as bats and dolphins. These animals emit high-frequency sound waves, often referred to as clicks or sonar pulses, into their environment. The sound waves travel through the air or water, and when they encounter objects, they bounce back as echoes. Humans are also able to use echolocation. According to our textbook,” Blind subjects are generally better at echolocating.”(Rosenblum, 2011).

By processing this information, they can determine the location, distance, and even the shape and texture of the objects in their surroundings. For instance, bats can navigate through complex environments and detect obstacles and prey. This ability showcases how the brain can use the structured reflected sound to create a mental representation of the objects in the environment, even without visuals.

Photo Link: https://askabiologist.asu.edu/echolocation

Verbal Overshadowing

 Verbal overshadowing refers to describing a nonverbal experience, which might impair
subsequent recognition. One study found that verbalizing a visual memory may produce a verbally biased memory representation that can interfere with the application of the original visual memory. This effect has real-life consequences, putting innocent people behind bars. One witness might describe the details of an incident one way and another witness another way. Elizabeth Loftus discovered this effect and the malleability of human memory.

This effect also occurs in tastes and smells, but does not seem to have an impact on sommeliers. They are able to identify a wine they just tasted and when asked to provide a verbal description of the wine after tasting it, their recognition skills are not impaired. This could be attributed to the years of training and use of conceptual knowledge. 

http://psychology.iresearchnet.com/forensic-psychology/eyewitness-memory/verbal-overshadowing/ 

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2295225/

https://www.edge.org/response-detail/27092

Covid-Related Anosmia

 In See What I'm Saying, the author touches on anosmia, the loss of sense of smell. Karl Wuensch lost his ability to smell dangerous odors, food, and interestingly people. Wuench describes a phenomenon that we too became familiar with recently during the Covid pandemic. Many people who contracted Covid-19 reported symptoms of loss of smell but regained it after a while. There were even those who never regained their sense of smell or regained it but it did not work as it previously did. One study found that the loss of smell associated with COVID-19 may have links to an increased risk of depressed mood and anxiety.

Smell plays an important role in interactions with humans and eating, which Wuensch points out as an issue he struggles with. It is psychologically distressing constantly being unable to use a crucial sensory function. One article recorded responses from a few women saying:

                            

• "I mean, I can force myself to eat it, but it's not enjoyable like it used to be."
• "It's very, very, very uncomfortable, upsetting. Like I said, I really enjoy food. From going to love and enjoying the taste of food, I can't really enjoy or say I love food anymore."
• "It gets emotional too, because like I said, I cook a lot for my children. I got five children, I got two grandbabies and I cook a lot. But now it's like, I don't even want to cook. My cooking has changed because I can't smell or taste my food."

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/covid-19-linking-loss-of-smell-depression-and-anxiety 

https://consumer.healthday.com/b-10-26-how-folks-are-coping-with-post-covid-loss-of-smell-taste-2655363334.html

Dark Dining

 

Many of our senses come into play when it comes to eating food, from seeing a nicely presented meal, smelling the aromas in a wine, tasting the flavors of a steak, and hearing the sound of creme brulee breaking apart.

As mentioned in See What I’m Saying, the author describes the experience of dark dining, where people dine in a completely dark room. He described the food as tasting bland, which was odd to him since it was an upscale restaurant. One study found that without the use of vision, people consumed much more food than normal without realizing (Greenwood, 2023).

An interesting detail about dark dining is how it creates a relationship between sighted and blind/visually-impaired people. As one journal describes it: “ These dark phenomena are successful precisely because they do not try to simulate the experience of blindness for sighted people. Rather, they provide a setting or stage for enhanced contact and communication” (Saerberg, 2007).

https://dsq-sds.org/article/view/24/24 

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20230411-what-dining-in-the-dark-does-to-your-tastebuds 

Biology of Smiling

 A smile can boost your emotional state because when you smile your brain releases neuropeptides that aid in fighting off stress. Also, neurotransmitters like dopamine, Serotonin and endorphins are also released which further leads to increased mood.

 

 It is mentioned in the text, “inhibiting facial reactions can dampen your reactions to emotional images” (Rosenblum, 2010, p. 191).  Meaning that when you restrain from facial reactions you actually bring your mood down.

 

In the book there was an experiment conducted, This experiment used a pen and it showed that when an individual held a pen between their teeth, their mouth was serendipitously put into a smile; so in return, the experimenters found that when they looked at the cartoons they were amused by versus when the individuals held the pen with their lips, their mouth was put into a frown and the experimenters found that the individuals found the cartoons less amusing.

 https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-science-willpower/201208/smile-your-way-out-stress

Out of Body and Rubber Hand similarities

 An out-of-body experience is a sensation of being outside one's own body, typically by being able to observe oneself from a distance. Also known as ‘Autoscopy”, “Autoscopy is thought to be a rare phenomenon in which a person visualizes or experiences a veritable hallucinatory image of his double.” (Grostein, NIH.)

 This phenomenon is similar to the rubber hand illusion because, in chapter 6 “Rubber Bands and Rubber Brains,” an experiment was performed “To perform the experiment one sits in a chair with a pair of video goggles, the monitor in the goggles shows the back of you. There is a camera set up about five feet behind you and that is the image being fed to the goggles. The experimenter will then enter the room with two sticks and the experimenter will stand to your right. With his right hand, the experimenter strokes your chest, you can't see this, but you can feel it. With their left hand, they reach behind you and begin to stroke the air at a position just in front of and below the camera. As you are looking through your goggles you see your body from behind, but not the stokes because your body blocks the view. You can see the upper left arm of the experimenter as they stoke the air below the camera, and this is when it appears as if the arm that is stoking the air is actually the arm that is stroking your chest. Both experiments are similar in their efforts to make the perception that the body is feeling an actual sensation that one is not. 

Echolocation and Animals

     Echolocation is when animals to use reflective sound to figure out the location of an object. Using echolocation, animals are able to navigate through pitch black environments and avoid obstacles. There are many different animals that use echolocation to navigate such as bats, dolphins, and whales. To use this tool animals make a sound. Once they make a sound, they listen for the sound waves that are going to bounce off of their surroundings. The tighter the sound wave, the more information animals are able to pick up on. The tighter sound waves provide a more detailed picture of what is around them, or prey that they are attempting to hunt. 

    Many people with visual impairment have adapted to the use of echolocation and have developed this tool. Daniel Kish, the blind mountain bike rider uses echolocation to illustrate the world around him. This is useful for people who are unable to see because they can get a better picture of what is happening around them. It is helpful because like Daniel Kish, people can enjoy activities that they may have been told they could never do. 

Phantosmia

     Phantosmia is a medical condition where you are smelling odors that are not actually present. This experience can also be called an olfactory hallucination. Some of the smells you may smell are cigarette smoke, rubber, chemicals, or something rotting. Clearly this is not a very pleasant experience at all. The interesting thing about phantosmia is that it could be caused by many different things. Some causes could include nasal polyps, colds, allergies or sinus infections. There are also more serious things that could cause phantosmia such as stroke or a brain tumor. 

    This is something I have experienced since I was young due to migraines. There are periods of time where I constantly smell cigarette smoke, which honestly makes my life a little miserable. But there are things that help such as washing your nose out with a saline, such as using a neti pot. Or nose spray does seem to help as well when it becomes flared up by my allergies. 

My Experience With Anosmia

    In 2021, I couldn't believe my eyes when the test showed up positive for COVID-19. A few days later I found myself googling how to get my sense of smell back. I remember standing in the shower holding the bottle of soap up to my nose just trying to pick up a sign of a smell. Anosmia is the partial or complete loss of smell which could be temporary or permanent. Experiencing this medical condition made me more miserable than being sick ever did. I could not taste or smell anything, which then began affecting my stomach. My stomach was telling me to eat food, but my nose was saying otherwise. 

    My experience with anosmia was short lived, but it gave me sympathy for anyone that permanently has this medical condition. This can also be extremely dangerous when you are unable to smell danger such as smoke, gas, or anything else that could cause alarm. Karl Wuensch had this problem with his anosmia and continued burning through toasters. Karl lost many things that he enjoyed such as the scent of his loved ones and food. I found that it was difficult to enjoy life without the sense of smell and I can see how Karl found himself inside a deep depression after being diagnosed with anosmia. 

    

Don't Walk Into The Wall!

    Karl Dallenbach conducted an experiment in the 1940s where two blind men and two sighted men were asked to put on blindfolds and walk toward a large board and stop before running into it, which they were able to do multiple times without running into the board. When asked how they were able to do it, they said that they could feel the pressure on their face of the board getting closer. However, when they were asked to complete the same task on carpet, with no shoes on, and headphones that emitted a loud tone, they walked into the board every time. This shows how the gentlemen were using reflected sounds from their shoes hitting against the hard floor to measure how close to the board they were.

    I tested this out myself as well to see just how well I would do. I walked toward a wall with shoes on and blindfolded and would stop just before hitting it every time. My room is carpeted so I tried again with socks on and headphones playing loud music. I walked right into the wall! I was so shocked to have hit the wall because just like the gentlemen in the experiment, I thought I could feel the pressure on my face preventing me from walking into the wall. My little experiment just proved we use reflected sound to help us not walk into things.

Proxy Touch

    When you crack an egg, how hard do you hit it against the bowl or counter? How do you know to use this exact amount of pressure each time? That would be due to proxy touch. Proxy touch is when you use another object to touch something. After the object touches another object, the action gets sent through the first object to your skin, which perceives specific properties to distinguish it from other properties.

    I really found the concept of proxy touch interesting.  I never realized that we use proxy touch every day without even knowing it. When you are cutting into a steak you are using proxy touch. You can determine how soft or tough the steak is when you start cutting it. You know just how much pressure to put into the hand with the knife so that you are not cutting too soft or too hard. This would tell you how well-done the steak is. 

Anosmia

    Anosmia is when you lose your sense of smell. Large polyps form in the sinuses and the turbinates become swollen. Anosmia is difficult to treat and most people go uncured. This can also lead to food being less enjoyable, given that 80% of the flavor comes from the smell. Karl Wuensch decided that he needed to compensate for his lack of smell by adding propane detectors in his home and taking extra care to watch any food he was cooking so that he did not burn down his house. He also experimented with spices to enhance his food, falling in love with hot peppers and spicy food, something his family is not very fond of. His form of anosmia often responds to treatments for some time so he has regained and lost his small over four times. Wuensch says that he misses the smell of people the most because it feels like there is something missing when he interacts with other people.

    This reminds me of when I temporarily lost my sense of smell due to sinus issues. This was around the time when COVID was at an all-time high so I was terrified that it was due to me having COVID. I was in my room with my sister eating a piece of beef jerky. Beef jerky has a strong smell and I realized I could not smell it. I kept smelling the wrapper but could not smell anything. I was also terrified because I did not want to lose my sense of smell, I love smelling things and actually have a really good sense of smell. After a bit, I regained my sense of smell. This is all to say that I have a snippet of understanding for people with anosmia. I could never imagine both losing my sense of smell and then my food tasting less enjoyable because of it.

Phantom Pains

    

    Phantom limb pain is pain felt in a part of a limb that is no longer there after an amputation. Around 80% of people who have an amputation have some form of phantom pains. Researchers don't know exactly what causes this pain to happen, however we have a better understanding of it than we used to. At first phantom pain was thought to be psychological, however we know now that it has to do with the nervous system. 

    One explanation for why this happens is that the nerves in your spinal cord rewire themselves after they lose the signal from the missing limb and then pain signals are sent to the brain. One of the treatments is called mirror therapy which involves looking in the mirror of the limb that is still there (arm, leg, etc) for 20 minutes a day as you exercise. This tricks the brain into thinking that the other limb is still there. 

References: 

https://www.webmd.com/pain-management/guide/phantom-limb-pain

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/12092-phantom-limb-pain

https://www.apmconline.org/blog/do-you-have-phantom-limb-pain

How Hypnosis Changes Perception

    Hypnosis is a type of therapy that helps create a state of relaxation and concentration for the person receiving the therapy. A certified hypnotist is able to guide a person into this deep state of relaxation and focus by talking, repetition, and images. The way that hypnosis works isn't entirely understood however it can be affective for some mental health conditions such as generalized anxiety disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. 

              

              

         

       A study done on how the mind perceives different objects had 60 participants with multiple levels of suggestibility (how well they take suggestions.) Each person was hypnotized, given a real wooden board, and told that the board in their hand would block their perception of the screen. As they were thinking of the board being a blockade, a stimulus was presented to them. In a control condition, they were given the stimuli without the mention of the wooden board being a blockade. They were then asked how many squares they saw. The conclusion was that when they were told the wooden board blocks their vision, they could see the stimuli anyway but they could not process what they just saw leading to poor counting of the stimuli which is in line with the idea that there is a dissociation between sensory and perceptual processing areas in the brain. 

References: 

 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-05195-2

 https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/22676-hypnosis

https://www.discovermagazine.com/mind/five-mesmerizing-facts-about-hypnosis 

Scent's Affects on Emotions and Memories

 

        Smells have a very strong connection to both memories and emotions, but do you realize why that is? With most sensory information (taste, sound, touch, sight), the information you receive from these senses goes straight to the thalamus, but for smells it's different. This sensory information instead goes to the olfactory bulb which is a structure at the front of your brain. Through this, smells take a direct road to our body's limbic system which deals specifically with emotion and memory. As a result, we tend to associate both good and bad smells with specific moments in time. 

        I definitely agree with the idea that in general we have very strong associations of smell to memories even if we don't realize it. It was also mentioned that because of the fact that smell is one of the first senses we develop and is the most developed when we are younger, this is the time period we begin to associate smells as being "good" or "bad" and how that is very hard to change. A lot of us think something smells bad or good without even thinking of why and in reality it's probably associated with a memory or emotion.  

          

References:

https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2020/02/how-scent-emotion-and-memory-are-intertwined-and-exploited/#:~:text=Smells%20are%20handled%20by%20the,related%20to%20emotion%20and%20memory.

https://www.discovery.com/science/Why-Smells-Trigger-Such-Vivid-Memories

Symmetry (High and low symmetry)

 Symmetry is elements that are symmetrical to each other, whether it be shape, size, position, etc. It is said that symmetry is an important part of attractiveness and even scent tracking. Low symmetry is predictive of worse genetic, physical, mental health, cognitive skills, etc. It has been known that even in animals that low body symmetry causes problems. For example, in the text, See What I'm Saying: The Extraordinary Powers of Our Five Senses, it states, “It’s long been known that low body symmetry in animals can be a result of genetic abnormalities caused by in-breeding, mutations, and other factors. Low body symmetry in animals is predictive of slower growth rates, reduced longevity, and reduced fertility”(Rosenblum, n.d.). 

However, high symmetry equals size of body parts and are generally more attractive. For example, research has shown that men typically have more relationships. In the text, it said, “men with high symmetry (more equal wrists and ankles) typically have more sexual partners, quicker access to romantic partners, and induce more copulatory orgasms in their mates. So, it turns out that size does matter after all: bilateral equivalence of appendage size, that is”(Rosenblum, n.d.). It is interesting and true that humans are more attractive to symmetrical faces that asymmetrical.

Sommelier

 A sommelier is a professional who selects and serves wine to fit the taste and budget for customers. Many believe that sommeliers have more sensitive palates which allow them to detect specific ingredients in the wine. However, research shows the opposite. They might not have special tongues for figuring out wine, but special brains. For example, in the text, See What I'm Saying: The Extraordinary Powers of Our Five Senses, it states, “Recent brain scans of sommeliers reveal that as they taste wine, their brains react differently from those of novices. As the sommelier sips, his brain first shows enhanced activity in the regions where taste and smell inputs converge. This enhancement likely provides the sommelier with a more vivid representation of flavor. From there, the sommelier’s brain shows greater left-hemisphere activity than do the brains of novices. The brain’s left hemisphere is associated with analytic processes, so its enhanced activity could provide the expert with a more intellectual tasting experience” (Rosenblum, n.d.). The brain is induced to show greater activity in the regions with higher cognitive functions. Therefore, this will enhance the person’s tasting experience. 

These recent brain findings are also consistent with what is already known about these experts too. They have also developed a rich understanding to be able to describe the taste and smell of wine. In the text, it states, “The experts’ explicit knowledge allows them to more easily attend to, categorize, and then remember meaningful constellations of flavor: flavors that go together because of grape or production processes. Without this explicit knowledge and taste training, even the frequent wine drinker is likely to miss flavor subtleties in a vintage”(Rosenblum, n.d.).

Anosmia

 Anosmia is the loss of smell that can be a temporary or permanent condition. This condition can be caused by a Covid-19, severe sinus infection, nasal polyps, etc. One can even be born with anosmia, which is actually called congenital anosmia. Determining how to treat anosmia first starts with treating the problem that is causing it. People should be aware that it may be hard to find the cause or to even treat anosmia. It could go away on its own or just stay permanently. 

It was interesting reading about Karl Wuensch, who also had anosmia. The reason for his anosmia was due to large polyps in his sinuses and severely swollen turbinates. When he first got diagnosed, he learned that it would be difficult to treat. However, he tried to stay positive and find alternate ways when cooking and eating food. There were times when his anosmia condition would respond to treatment, but he ended up losing and regaining his sense of smell over four times.

References:

https://www.yalemedicine.org/conditions/smell-and-taste-disorders

Human Mimicry

"A form of social learning in which people, without conscious awareness or intent, automatically copy other people's physical movements (behaviors such as postures, gestures, and mannerisms), facial expressions, speech patterns, and emotions during interpersonal interactions." -American Psychological Association definition of human mimicry.

There are 4 different types of unconscious human mimicry: verbal, facial, emotional, and behavioral. A form of facial mimicry could be when two people are having a conversation and are unaware of how they are sharing the same facial expressions are holding. The behavioral word could be that the two are rubbing their face rubbing movement, or touching their hair. An example of verbal could be that they begin adapting how each one speaks. One person may speak softly and slowly while the other speaks fast and loudly. Emotional mimicry is feeling another person's emotions. Maybe you wake up in a good mood, come across in individual who lost a loved one, then poof, and feel upset.

References

https://dictionary.apa.org/mimicry

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2865082/

Unconscious Scent Detection

Weizmann Institute of Science posted a study on May 21, 2020, on how the unconscious mind's response to a sniff test could speculate to a recovery of consciousness. Their conclusion confirmed that if an unconscious individual responds to smell through a slight change in airflow pattern from the nose, they are likely to regain consciousness.

The study was held at the Loewenstein Rehabilitation Hospital in Israel and included 43 brain-injured patients. The researchers had jars with various odors (pleasant and unpleasant scents) up to the patients' noses. The odors were placed under each patient's nose ten times randomly. All patients in a "vegetative state" responded to the sniff test and regained consciousness within days, weeks, or months even if it was a minimal state of consciousness. It also had 92% accuracy in predicting who would survive for at least three years. During the four-year study period, 100% of unconscious brain-injured patients that responded to the sniff test regained consciousness. 

References

Weizmann Institute of Science. (2020, May 21). Unconscious: 'Sniff test' predicts recovery of consciousness. ScienceDaily. Retrieved June 21, 2023, from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/05/200521101947.htm

Anosmia

            Anosmia is when you lose your sense of smell. It can be temporary or long-lasting, affecting how a person can perceive odors. Many people with anosmia are uncured or it can be a challenge to treat. However, some treatments are available. After getting temporary anosmia due to Covid-19, I learned how much losing sense of smell can disrupt daily life. I lost interest in eating my favorite foods, because I couldn't taste them. Additionally, everything I ate tasted bland and had no flavor. This caused me to lose a few pounds, however, my smell did return after a few weeks.

Karl Wuensch described his experience with anosmia as having a new and unique appreciation for odors. After losing and regaining his smell many times, he found bliss in smelling distinct odors. He further explained that since his diagnosis, he has missed the smell of people more than anything else. His intimate and friendly interactions were interrupted by his lack of smell, and he even described it as, “not the same being with people when you can’t smell them” (Rosenblum, 2010, p. 154). Wuensch also felt that medical professionals and community members lacked an understanding of the aftereffects of anosmia. 

Source: How COVID-19 Causes Loss of Smell | Harvard Medical School

Phantom Pain

Losing a limb can be devastating and debilitating. Phantom pain is the sensation of pain or discomfort in a lost body part.  People who have had amputations frequently experience this, in which the amputated limb continues to cause discomfort even if it is no longer physically present. Researchers believe that phantom pain is caused by overexuberant neuroplasticity or the way the brain remembers pain signals. The nervous system signals between the spinal cord and the brain become mixed up, basically causing the brain to misinterpret the information it receives. Phantom pain can be short-term, or long-lasting. According to Cleveland Clinic (2023), phantom limb pain is very common in amputees, with 8 out of 10 people experiencing some form of this sensation. 

Phantom limb pain can be triggered by chest pain, temperature changes, shingles, stress, and smoking. Symptoms of phantom limb pain include burning or aching, itching, tingling, throbbing, or shooting pains. Pain relievers or antidepressants can combat the pain felt after an amputation. There are many other treatment options available as well to ease the pain. One way to trick the brain into reducing phantom pain is by using mirror therapy. Mirror therapy is completing movement exercises in front of a mirror using the healthy limb. Repeating these exercises using the reflection of a mirror allows the phantom pain to reduce because over time the brain believes two limbs are present. 

Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK448188/