Tiny Matters [BONUS] Four armadillos in a trench coat and does pregnancy boost your sense of smell?: Tiny Show and Tell Us #15
Jan 29, 2025
They explain how what was thought to be one nine-banded armadillo is actually four distinct species and why that matters for naming and conservation. They explore whether pregnancy really heightens smell and discuss how changes in odor pleasantness, measurement challenges, and nausea might shape perceptions. Short, curious science stories and listener contributions tie it all together.
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Pregnancy Smell Story That Sparked Research
- Andrew described how his pregnant wife Kay could smell a grimy sink from across their living room while he could barely detect it even up close.
- The story motivated a literature search revealing widespread self-reports of heightened smell in pregnancy affecting daily life and disgust responses.
Pregnancy Changes Smell Hedonics Not Sensitivity
- Meta-analysis of 234 papers (9 usable) found no consistent improvement in detection or intensity but did find worse odor identification and changes in odor hedonics during pregnancy.
- The study pooled 523 pregnant and 365 non-pregnant people and cautioned limited data and conflicting methods.
Perception And Memory Skew Smell Reports
- Olfactory perception is shaped by memory and emotion, complicating self-reports and making pleasantness/unpleasantness crucial to pregnant people's reported sensitivity.
- Sam and Deboki note nausea and food aversions often link to these hedonic shifts in pregnancy.
