1 00:00:01,840 --> 00:00:07,560 Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey brain Stuff, 2 00:00:07,600 --> 00:00:12,600 Speaker 1: Lauren Vogelbaum Here, it's difficult to describe the scent of 3 00:00:12,640 --> 00:00:16,479 Speaker 1: a recently born human baby, but if you've ever held one, 4 00:00:16,680 --> 00:00:20,040 Speaker 1: you know exactly what we're talking about. You may have 5 00:00:20,120 --> 00:00:23,560 Speaker 1: even snuggled their head in close and taken a good huff. 6 00:00:24,360 --> 00:00:28,240 Speaker 1: It's not even baby shampoo or lotion or diapers. It's 7 00:00:28,440 --> 00:00:33,879 Speaker 1: a little sweet, maybe milky, a tiny bit musky, and 8 00:00:33,920 --> 00:00:38,360 Speaker 1: then one day it's just gone, often without anyone even 9 00:00:38,400 --> 00:00:43,000 Speaker 1: realizing that it had been fading. So what exactly is 10 00:00:43,040 --> 00:00:47,960 Speaker 1: that new baby smell? This is one of those questions 11 00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:50,840 Speaker 1: that no one really knows the answer to. We've talked 12 00:00:50,880 --> 00:00:54,040 Speaker 1: before in the show about old people smell. It's not unpleasant, 13 00:00:54,240 --> 00:00:58,840 Speaker 1: but researchers have identified a particular grassy, musty scent compound 14 00:00:58,880 --> 00:01:02,160 Speaker 1: emitted by skin that we produce more of as we age, 15 00:01:02,320 --> 00:01:06,040 Speaker 1: especially after seventy five years or so, and people can 16 00:01:06,120 --> 00:01:10,960 Speaker 1: easily identify older people by that scent. Again, no one 17 00:01:11,040 --> 00:01:14,039 Speaker 1: is really sure what the biological reason is for this, 18 00:01:14,560 --> 00:01:17,240 Speaker 1: but the theory goes that a smell related to a 19 00:01:17,280 --> 00:01:20,959 Speaker 1: certain age group may be an evolutionary relic designed to 20 00:01:21,160 --> 00:01:24,360 Speaker 1: help animals choose their mates, with the idea that long 21 00:01:24,440 --> 00:01:29,360 Speaker 1: term survivors would be worth reproducing with, and that new 22 00:01:29,400 --> 00:01:33,760 Speaker 1: baby smell might also serve some kind of evolutionary biological purpose, 23 00:01:34,440 --> 00:01:38,000 Speaker 1: for example, to help a mother identify her baby more easily, 24 00:01:38,480 --> 00:01:41,200 Speaker 1: similar to how babies can identify their mothers by smell 25 00:01:41,360 --> 00:01:45,560 Speaker 1: almost immediately. Several studies have shown that most mothers can 26 00:01:45,600 --> 00:01:50,720 Speaker 1: identify their babies by smell alone. It may also help 27 00:01:50,800 --> 00:01:54,520 Speaker 1: parents bond with their baby. A twenty thirteen study from 28 00:01:54,560 --> 00:01:57,920 Speaker 1: Frontiers in Psychology found that when women were given an 29 00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:00,720 Speaker 1: undershirt with a baby sent on it, not their own 30 00:02:00,760 --> 00:02:04,480 Speaker 1: baby scent, just any old baby scent, their brains reward 31 00:02:04,560 --> 00:02:07,880 Speaker 1: center lit up. This was true whether or not the 32 00:02:07,880 --> 00:02:12,000 Speaker 1: women were mothers themselves, and a two thousand and eight 33 00:02:12,040 --> 00:02:15,840 Speaker 1: study of Marnoset monkeys showed that monkey fathers who smelled 34 00:02:15,880 --> 00:02:20,120 Speaker 1: their newborns showed a drop in testosterone, which could make them, 35 00:02:20,160 --> 00:02:23,320 Speaker 1: to quote the study, more tolerant toward his infants while 36 00:02:23,320 --> 00:02:26,760 Speaker 1: facing external challenges that might distract him from focusing on 37 00:02:26,840 --> 00:02:31,200 Speaker 1: his infant and family needs. What we do know is 38 00:02:31,240 --> 00:02:34,920 Speaker 1: that new baby smell is complex, far more than a 39 00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:38,760 Speaker 1: single compound. Researchers with the Monel Taste and Smell Center 40 00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:41,280 Speaker 1: think it's made up of about two hundred and fifty 41 00:02:41,360 --> 00:02:45,600 Speaker 1: chemicals in combination. That's why it's so difficult to pin down. 42 00:02:46,040 --> 00:02:49,639 Speaker 1: It's everything from their diet of breast, milk or formula, 43 00:02:50,080 --> 00:02:53,480 Speaker 1: which are really complex in themselves, to residues of the 44 00:02:53,480 --> 00:02:57,040 Speaker 1: amniotic fluid that they've been living in a tube specialized 45 00:02:57,120 --> 00:03:00,240 Speaker 1: harmless bacteria that live and grow in their guts and 46 00:03:00,320 --> 00:03:05,000 Speaker 1: on their skin. Since there are still so many questions 47 00:03:05,040 --> 00:03:08,480 Speaker 1: about what this scent is and why it exists, recreating 48 00:03:08,520 --> 00:03:12,399 Speaker 1: it is pretty unlikely, at least for now, So if 49 00:03:12,400 --> 00:03:15,320 Speaker 1: you enjoy new baby smell, you're just going to have 50 00:03:15,360 --> 00:03:18,840 Speaker 1: to get it at the source, with the sources parents permission, 51 00:03:19,040 --> 00:03:26,120 Speaker 1: of course. Today's episode is based on the article what 52 00:03:26,240 --> 00:03:28,920 Speaker 1: causes new baby Smell on HowStuffWorks dot Com, written by 53 00:03:28,960 --> 00:03:32,400 Speaker 1: Katherine Whitburn and Flive Copeland. Brain Stuff is production of 54 00:03:32,440 --> 00:03:35,440 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio in partnership with howstufforks dot Com and is produced 55 00:03:35,440 --> 00:03:38,760 Speaker 1: by Tyler Klang. Four more podcasts my Heart Radio, visit 56 00:03:38,800 --> 00:03:41,680 Speaker 1: the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to 57 00:03:41,720 --> 00:03:42,520 Speaker 1: your favorite shows.