Eli5: Why are peoples’ own noises and smells usually dialed down, such as not being affected by their own snoring and not noticing their body odor?

Question

Why does the brain seems to dial down things that we produce; even the obnoxious snoring or noises made while sleeping don’t affect us? Similarly, people don’t usually get annoyed by their own talking or yelling to themselves.

In: Other

Answer 1

This happens because of something called [sensory/neural adaptation](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neural_adaptation). Like the other comments have said, we respond to changes in stimuli. If something happens continuously, eventually your neurons reduce their sensitivity to that stimulus.

For example, after a while you don’t notice the sound of a fan if it’s been on for a long time or the feel of the clothes you’re wearing.

This [link](https://users.pfw.edu/abbott/120/adaptation.html) lists a few other examples related to sight, hearing, touch, smell, and hand-eye coordination.