We seek to understand the human sense of smell, its individual 

                       differences, and the extent to which it works with other senses in 

                       construing our experiences.

                       Communication through chemical signals has long been established 

                       in many animals, from single cell organisms, to insects, fish, and 

                       mammals. Increasing evidence over the past three decades suggests 

                       that this also applies to humans. 

                      We show that social smells bias affective (mood, perceptions of 

                      the emotion in the face), cognitive, and neural responses of the smell

                      recipients, even when the recipients are not aware of the nature of 

                      the smells.  Moreover, we show that the capacity to detect social 

                      smells is related to emotional competency.