Andrew Huberman talks with Dr. Noam Sobel, a Weizmann Institute olfaction researcher, about how smell shapes human behavior and hormones. They cover how the olfactory system works, then chemosignals in handshakes, friendship, fear, babies and tears, and finally digitizing smell.
People sniff their hands after handshakes. Body odor similarity predicts friendship, and the smell of fear is contagious. Hexadecanal from babies reduced aggression in men and raised it in women. Women's odorless tears lowered men's free testosterone by about 14%, a result replicated in South Korea. Sobel's algorithm predicts perceived smell similarity and built olfactory metamers, including a Chanel No. 5 match. A proof-of-concept transmission of violets worked, and an electronic nose could one day diagnose disease.