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Olfactory fatigue, also known as odor fatigue, olfactory adaptation, and noseblindness, is the temporary, normal inability to distinguish a particular odor after a prolonged exposure to that airborne compound.
Olfactory adaptation, alternatively known as olfactory fatigue and nose blindness, is just a temporary inability to identify certain smells after prolonged exposure to it.
For example, if you chewed a strong brand of minty gum for about an hour or so, you will eventually stop smelling it. Some of the smell might have genuinely weaned off, but your brain has grown fully numb to it, and you initially forget about the gum chewing.
However, it’s not a terrible thing to have. Think of our cavemen ancestors. If they were hiding from predators, olfactory adaptation could have comforted the person, especially as the smells would have taken the backburner for more pressing matters, like finding food and preparing a better shelter.
Excerpt from Medium
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