[Paul Vivian]

Paul Vivian  asked the Naked Scientists:
   
Chris,
 
Quick question me and my house-mate just came up with:
 
Out of our five senses I'm sure hearing, touch and vision can cause us to awaken from sleep, by means of loud noises, being hit with something and bright lights respectively.

However can smell/taste cause us to awaken? I cannot recall ever being awoken by a smell/taste and neither can my house mate.
 
Any ideas on if this is true, and if so is there any reason why certain senses and not others can cause us to be wake up?
 
 
Many Thanks
 
Paul

What do you think?

[dentstudent]

Yup. We have a bread machine and when it is on, I HAVE to have doors shut, because I wake up if I can smell it baking. Much as I adore the smell of freshly baked bread, 3 am is not the time to smell it!

[Chemistry4me]

These stimulants are not strong enough to wake us.

[Karen W.]

Smoke, baking bread as stuart said, fresh coffee, bacon, sausage, eggs and fried potatoes...  ummmmmmm!  Smells definitely wake me up!  A dog or puppy or cat...who has made a whoops in the middle of the night... defineitely wakes me up as did my children when they vomited and gone back to sleep...The odor was strong and always woke me up.

I think some people are born with excellent sniffers. I think NON SMOKERS have better sniffers also.

[tangoblue]

because they are not a threat.  You wake up if somebody makes a loud noise or hits you because that could mean a threat but smells and tastes are not a big threat at least, that's what your thinks.

[Chemistry4me]

Bright lights are not a threat...


...Or are they? []

[Karen W.]

because they are not a threat.  You wake up if somebody makes a loud noise or hits you because that could mean a threat but smells and tastes are not a big threat at least, that's what your thinks.

smoke is a scary smell to wake to as is the stuff put into natural gas to make it stinkn are bad odors to wake to...definitely a threat that wakes you as is vomiting and dog or cat doo....

I like being awaken by the smell good  pungent odorific food!!