Why do you stop smelling fragrances after a while e.g. room fresheners after you’ve been in the same room

Question

For example you open a new air freshener and you smell it and it lasts for a few days but does your nose ‘get used’ to the fragrance and you stop smelling it?

In: 22

Answer 1

The olfactory receptors we have are phasic in nature, which means that the neurons give response ONLY when there is a change in the signal. So once there is a new smell, you smell it, but since it doesn’t change anymore the neurons won’t activate. The moment you leave the room to experience new smells, the neurons activate again.