ABSTRACT
Losses of smell and taste significantly predicted levels of general health, other sensory problems such as losses of vision or hearing, difficulty standing or bending and depression. Changes in sensitivity of taste and smell are small inconveniences but are also hints to be alert for other health issues. Like taste receptors, smell receptors have brief lives and are replaced about every thirty days. The brain regions neighbouring the olfactory bulb are part of a system, including the amygdala, which is involved in feelings of strong emotions, and the hippocampus, which is a control centre for registering memories of all kinds. The intensity and complexity of taste also very much depends on our smell receptors. Taste buds in different parts of the mouth have different structures, and the different kinds of information that these provide are delivered to the medulla, a system in the brainstem, by three different nerves.
