An Australian study has apparently confirmed an interesting link. AFP takes up the story: <font size="3"color="orange">Psychopaths have poor sense of smell Psychopaths have a remarkably poor sense of smell, according to a new study. Researchers in Australia tested a theory that psychopathy - a severe personality disorder characterised by lack of empathy, antisocial behaviour and callousness - may be linked to impaired smell ability. Both phenomena have been independently traced to dysfunction in part of the brain called the orbito-frontal complex (OFC). Mehmet Mahmut and Richard Stevenson of the Department of Psychology at Sydney's Macquarie University trialled the olfactory skills of 79 individuals, aged 19 to 21, who had been diagnosed as non-criminal psychopaths and lived in the community. Using "Sniffin' Sticks" - 16 pens that contain different scents, such as orange, coffee and leather - they found the participants had problems in correctly identifying the smell, and then discriminating it against a different odour. Those who scored highest on a standard scorecard of psychopathic traits did worst on both counts, even though they knew that they were smelling something. "Full Story":http://www.smh.com.au/world/psychopaths-have-poor-sense-of-smell-20120921-26a7z.html#ixzz273OikFfq</font><br>

i say, i say, i say

my dog has no nose

how does he smell?

my dog is a psychopath

Olfactory sense has very immediate affects on the mind, at an instinctive level, the full range of desire for to revulsion. It’s somewhat more clear dislike/like, Probably the hearing sense comes close in ways, depending on mood, meaning what is tolerable.

Things you eat you can spit out, and you choose to put them in the mouth.
Sight seems more given to observer datachment, and you can look away.

Smell and sound are very involved in proximity sensing of various things. Plugging the ears and nose are not the natural thing, you can move out from down wind re the latter and short of their being a strong wind blowing the former requires moving some distance away, or terminating the noise.

Maybe it is that good/bad/right/wrong are modulated and mediated by smell sense experience. To be deprived of smell would be a type of deprivation.

Lived alongside a chap for a while that’d been badly bashed and sustained a head injury that lost him his smell sense.

The interesting thing regarding the psychopath question is of where the smell deficiency would originate. Smell processing is very much feelings for sure.

Do we lose our smell sense when in a state of horror or terror, and is it affected by psychological/emotional trauma?