A team of researchers have made a new and stunning finding that infants are able to see faces because of their mother's scent.&nbsp;

Researchers from different institutes carried out a study to understand how babies use the scent of their mothers to perceive faces. The study's findings are intriguing and never heard of.

The researchers discovered that the infant's this specific ability sees great improvement between four and 12 months.&nbsp;

However, older infants are able to primarily use visual information for perceiving faces and do not need concurrent cues.

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/babies-movements-tracked-with-intelligent-onesies-could-help-diagnose-autism-adhd-740051">Babies' movements tracked with 'intelligent onesies' could help diagnose autism, ADHD</a>

Université de Bourgogne's Center for Taste, Smell and Feeding Sciences (CSGA) associate professor of psychology and neuroscience Dr Arnaud Leleu said, “I have a longstanding interest in how sensory perception works in the human brain. Despite its apparent simplicity (e.g., we open our eyes to see), perception is a complex neurocognitive ability derived from past experience with various stimulations coming from all the senses at the same time.”

Dr&nbsp;Leleu said how the young infant brain treats the multisensory inputs is important to understanding perception in the different senses and how it develops in adulthood.

<h2>Babies' brains and their sensory perception</h2>

Dr&nbsp;Leleu carried out the research to investigate how the development of visual perception is shaped by the olfaction in the infant's brain.

In the study, it was discovered that the rapid perception of faces which increases by the odour of the mother declined when infants grew older and were able to efficiently perceive faces just by visual cues.

Dr&nbsp;Leleu underlined the early exposure to concurrent sensory inputs' importance from&nbsp;different modalities to enhance perceptual learning in the babies.

Watch:&nbsp;Nigeria Bomb Attack: Woman with baby on her back carries out suicide attack

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“Together with the large body of research on multisensory perception in infants, our findings reveal the importance of the early exposure to concurrent sensory inputs from different modalities for perceptual learning,” Dr Leleu said.

“Such early exposure to repeated intersensory associations is also a building block for the later development of higher-level abilities such as semantic memory, language and conceptual reasoning. It is therefore important to expose infants to a variety of cues related to the same objects as early as possible," he added.

(With inputs from agencies)

A team of researchers have made a new and stunning finding that infants are able to see faces because of their mother's scent. Researchers from different institutes carried out a study to understand how babies use the scent of their mothers to perceive faces.

A team of researchers have made a new and stunning finding that infants are able to see faces because of their mother's scent. Researchers from different institutes carried out a study to understand how babies use the scent of their mothers to perceive faces. The study's findings are intriguing and never heard of. The researchers discovered that the infant's this specific ability sees great improvement between four and 12 months. However, older infants are able to primarily use visual information for perceiving faces and do not need concurrent cues. Also Read: Babies' movements tracked with 'intelligent onesies' could help diagnose autism, ADHD Université de Bourgogne's Center for Taste, Smell and Feeding Sciences (CSGA) associate professor of psychology and neuroscience Dr Arnaud Leleu said, “I have a longstanding interest in how sensory perception works in the human brain. Despite its apparent simplicity (e.g., we open our eyes to see), perception is a complex neurocognitive ability derived from past experience with various stimulations coming from all the senses at the same time.” Dr Leleu said how the young infant brain treats the multisensory inputs is important to understanding perception in the different senses and how it develops in adulthood. Babies' brains and their sensory perception Dr Leleu carried out the research to investigate how the development of visual perception is shaped by the olfaction in the infant's brain. In the study, it was discovered that the rapid perception of faces which increases by the odour of the mother declined when infants grew older and were able to efficiently perceive faces just by visual cues. Dr Leleu underlined the early exposure to concurrent sensory inputs' importance from different modalities to enhance perceptual learning in the babies. Watch: Nigeria Bomb Attack: Woman with baby on her back carries out suicide attack “Together with the large body of research on multisensory perception in infants, our findings reveal the importance of the early exposure to concurrent sensory inputs from different modalities for perceptual learning,” Dr Leleu said. “Such early exposure to repeated intersensory associations is also a building block for the later development of higher-level abilities such as semantic memory, language and conceptual reasoning. It is therefore important to expose infants to a variety of cues related to the same objects as early as possible," he added. (With inputs from agencies)

Babies use scent of their mothers to 'see' faces of people: Study

Humans have long been drawn to scents and fragrances, so much so that the scent industry has now gone beyond just the perfumes. You have various types of diffusers, essential oils, candles, incense and a lot more.

Humans have long been drawn to scents and fragrances, so much so that the scent industry has now gone beyond just the perfumes. You have various types of diffusers, essential oils, candles, incense and a lot more. If you haven't given in yet to the love for sweet-smelling things, you now have a major reason to do so. Fragrances and scents can have a positive impact on our memory, especially on senior citizens, a new study has shown. In fact, burning the night diffuser and filling up the bedroom with some scintillating scents can lower the risk of dementia immensely. How do scents help? Neurologically, scent triggers memories because the brain processes scent in the amygdala and hippocampus, the areas of emotional and episodic memories. In a trial at the University of California, Irvine, neuroscientists found that senior citizens saw a jump in cognitive performance by 226 per cent after using fragrance diffusers in their bedrooms every night for two hours, reported Psychology Today. They performed the trial on 43 adults aged between 60 and 85 with no prior diagnosis of cognitive impairment or dementia. The neuroscientists distributed commercially bought scent diffusers containing seven essential oil cartridges of rose, orange, eucalyptus, lemon, peppermint, rosemary, and lavender. They gave 20 trial participants a full-strength fragrance cartridge. The other 23 received cartridges with only small amounts of odorant as a control group. The trial participants had to use a cartridge in the diffuser every night before sleeping to spread the scent as they slept. ALSO READ | Storm on Mars: UAE probe detects significant dust mobilisation According to the previous research, patients with dementia had improved memory and language skills when exposed to 40 odours twice daily. However, the researchers at California University Irvine designed the trial differently because they thought it was unrealistic to ask senior citizens with cognitive impairment to open, sniff, and close bottles 80 times daily. Cynthia Woo, the study's lead author, said, "That's why we reduced the number of scents to only seven, exposing participants to just one each time, rather than the multiple aromas used simultaneously in previous research projects." She added, "By making it possible for people to experience the odours while sleeping, we eliminated the need to set aside time for this during waking hours every day." After six months, the research revealed that members of the scent-enriched group performed better than the control group in a word list test. The word list test evaluated verbal learning, retention, and recognition memory. Moreover, they reported having better sleep. Furthermore, MRI scans of the scent-enriched group revealed they had better integrity in the left uncinate fasciculus, a brain pathway connecting parts of the limbic system which weakens with age. Thus, the study established that scent can enhance memory power if used in a non-invasive intervention and prevent dementia in senior citizens. (With inputs from agencies)

Lighting up that scent diffuser can improve your memory power, study finds

The visitors to an Egyptian museum are likely to be transported back more than 3,500 years with the scent of balms identified and recreated by researchers which were used in an ancient Egyptian noblewoman's mummification. 
 
Although mummification appears to include bandages and jars, the process included fragrant items used to embalm the body and organs, so as to preserve them for the afterlife. 
 
However, because of a lack of texts from ancient Egypt, it was difficult to reveal the exact ingredients used, which forced scientists to use modern analysis to select the substances involved. The researchers are now studying the residues of balms that were used for noblewoman Senetnay's mummification.

ALSO READ |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/egypts-resistance-to-supply-weapons-to-ukraine-poses-challenge-for-biden-administration-report-624789">Egypt's resistance to supply weapons to Ukraine poses challenge for Biden administration: Report</a>

The study has revealed that many of the ingredients used for embalming the body came from outside Egypt and helped them reproduce their perfume. “Senetnay’s mummification balm stands out as one of the most intricate and complex balms from that era,” stated Barbara Huber, the first author of the research from the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology.

<h2>Ingredients of balms imported</h2>

Huber and his team analysed six samples of residues of the balms used for mummification which were discovered in two jars that once contained the liver and lungs of Senetnay, as indicated by hieroglyphic inscriptions. 
 
It was found by the team that the balms included a complex mix of ingredients, which included fats and oils, beeswax, bitumen, resins from trees of the pine family, a substance called coumarin that has a vanilla-like scent, and benzoic acid, that can be discovered in many plant sources which include cloves and cinnamon. They emphasised that many of the ingredients would have been imported to Egypt. 
 
“For instance, certain resins, like the larch tree resin, likely came from the northern Mediterranean and central Europe. One other substance was narrowed down to either a resin called dammar – exclusive to southeast Asian tropical forests – or Pistacia tree resin. In case it was dammar, this would highlight the extensive trade networks of the Egyptians during the mid-second millennium BCE, bringing in ingredients from afar,” said Huber.

WATCH |&nbsp;Gravitas | Egypt: Criminal court clears billionaire's name in murder case

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<h2>'Scent of the eternity'</h2>

The odour of the balm used on the Egyptian mummy was labelled as “the scent of the eternity”. 
 
Expert in sensory history at the University of York Dr William Tullett said, “To our noses, the warm, resinous, pine-like odours of larch might be more reminiscent of cleaning products and the sulphurous scent of bitumen might put us in mind of asphalt. But for Egyptians, these smells clearly had a host of other meanings related to spirituality and social status. It’s those revealing comparisons between the here and now of smell that make recreations so interesting.”

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The visitors to an Egyptian museum are likely to be transported back more than 3,500 years with the scent of balms identified and recreated by researchers which were used in an ancient Egyptian noblewoman's mummification.

The visitors to an Egyptian museum are likely to be transported back more than 3,500 years with the scent of balms identified and recreated by researchers which were used in an ancient Egyptian noblewoman's mummification. Although mummification appears to include bandages and jars, the process included fragrant items used to embalm the body and organs, so as to preserve them for the afterlife. However, because of a lack of texts from ancient Egypt, it was difficult to reveal the exact ingredients used, which forced scientists to use modern analysis to select the substances involved. The researchers are now studying the residues of balms that were used for noblewoman Senetnay's mummification. ALSO READ | Egypt's resistance to supply weapons to Ukraine poses challenge for Biden administration: Report The study has revealed that many of the ingredients used for embalming the body came from outside Egypt and helped them reproduce their perfume. “Senetnay’s mummification balm stands out as one of the most intricate and complex balms from that era,” stated Barbara Huber, the first author of the research from the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology. Ingredients of balms imported Huber and his team analysed six samples of residues of the balms used for mummification which were discovered in two jars that once contained the liver and lungs of Senetnay, as indicated by hieroglyphic inscriptions. It was found by the team that the balms included a complex mix of ingredients, which included fats and oils, beeswax, bitumen, resins from trees of the pine family, a substance called coumarin that has a vanilla-like scent, and benzoic acid, that can be discovered in many plant sources which include cloves and cinnamon. They emphasised that many of the ingredients would have been imported to Egypt. “For instance, certain resins, like the larch tree resin, likely came from the northern Mediterranean and central Europe. One other substance was narrowed down to either a resin called dammar – exclusive to southeast Asian tropical forests – or Pistacia tree resin. In case it was dammar, this would highlight the extensive trade networks of the Egyptians during the mid-second millennium BCE, bringing in ingredients from afar,” said Huber. WATCH | Gravitas | Egypt: Criminal court clears billionaire's name in murder case 'Scent of the eternity' The odour of the balm used on the Egyptian mummy was labelled as “the scent of the eternity”. Expert in sensory history at the University of York Dr William Tullett said, “To our noses, the warm, resinous, pine-like odours of larch might be more reminiscent of cleaning products and the sulphurous scent of bitumen might put us in mind of asphalt. But for Egyptians, these smells clearly had a host of other meanings related to spirituality and social status. It’s those revealing comparisons between the here and now of smell that make recreations so interesting.” You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here. WATCH WION LIVE HERE

Scientists recreate 3,500-year-old scent of ancient Egyptian mummy's balms

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