Olfaction and sniff training
Subject in Life Sciences
Olfaction and sniff training has come up in 2 episodes across 2 podcasts in TMT, including TED Radio Hour, Huberman Lab. 2 people have made recorded remarks about it.
What people said
Paule JosephChemosensory researcher and senior investigator at the National Institutes of Health, co-director of the National Smell and Taste Center
Joseph recommends practicing everyday olfactory training, such as deliberately smelling spices while cooking.
“you can do this even when you're cooking at home, right? Just get something out of your cabinet when you're putting the spices in”
TED Radio Hour: Big mysteries explained through your senses (Sep 18, 2026) · Listen from 41:46
Joseph says treatment options are limited to olfactory training, which works for some people but not others, and virus-caused loss can regenerate if caught early.
“We don't have a lot of treatment when it comes to smell and taste. We primarily have, you know, olfactory training is one of the things that we tend to recommend to individuals”
TED Radio Hour: Big mysteries explained through your senses (Sep 18, 2026) · Listen from 37:18
Joseph says what matters clinically is not whether smell is perfect but whether it changed suddenly and failed to return.
“what matters is not whether your smell is perfect, it's whether it changed, especially if this change is suddenly and it has not come back”
TED Radio Hour: Big mysteries explained through your senses (Sep 18, 2026) · Listen from 31:06
Joseph argues that primary care physicians should at minimum screen for smell loss and refer patients, noting no specialty currently owns the test.
“if you ask me who should be doing this test, I would say at a minimum, primary care should be screening and then doing the proper referrals”
TED Radio Hour: Big mysteries explained through your senses (Sep 18, 2026) · Listen from 30:02
Andrew HubermanAmerican neuroscientist, professor at Stanford School of Medicine and host of the Huberman Lab podcast
Huberman says olfactory neurons turn over throughout life and their tuning is activity-dependent, so repeated deliberate sniffing improves smell.
“That turnover and their tuning to particular smells, which translates to your ability to smell is activity dependent”
Huberman Lab: Your Top Health Questions Answered (Jul 27, 2026) · Listen from 48:01
Coverage over time
Podcasts
- TED Radio Hour · 1 episode
- Huberman Lab · 1 episode
Episodes
Big mysteries explained through your sensesTED Radio Hour · Sep 18, 2026 · 50 min
Manoush Zomorodi talks with astronomer Mark Whittle, smell researcher Paule Joseph and artist Yiyun Kang about perceiving hidden realities through the senses.
Your Top Health Questions AnsweredHuberman Lab · Jul 27, 2026 · 1 h 44 min
Andrew Huberman answers listener questions on late-night workouts, light exposure, memory, smell, fertility, menopause, surgery recovery and finding a passion.