Some fascinating facts about how your brain smells toast
There’s something strangely evocative about the smell of burnt toast. You can probably remember the last time you suddenly detected it and dashed for the grill.
But did you know there’s a part of your brain specifically dedicated to smelling burnt toast?
In 1950, Canadian Dr Wilder Penfield was working on a treatment for cerebral seizures that worked by zapping particular nerve cells with electrical probes. One of his patients was a woman with epilepsy who smelled burnt toast whenever she was about to have a seizure.
With her sedated but awake, Dr Wilder removed part of her skull and stimulated various parts of the brain until the woman exclaimed “I can smell burnt toast!” He was able to remove this small bit of brain tumour and stop the seizures, and the process, which later became known as the Montreal Procedure would go on to help millions of people with epilepsy.
So next time you burn your breakfast, spare a thought for Dr Wilder Penfield and raise a crust to him.
In our August issue, we’re celebrating more impressive work with toast, looking at some of the ‘toast art’ by Manami Sasaki (@sasamana1204), such as the one above. You can read more on p16. The August issue is in shops now, or you can buy it from our online store. Buy this month's The Simple Things - buy, download or subscribe
