Dear Folks:
   Research on smell touches on other areas that are fascinating to me, such
as imprinting and attachment. Here are a few more neat studies:
        1) from France: C R Acad Sci III 1997, Dec; 320:999-1005. After 3 days and
7-12 bf bouts, infants preferred the smell of their mother's milk to that of
amniotic fluid. The authors speculate that this shift in smell preference is
part of human olfactory development.
        2) from Sweden: Acta Paediatr 1998; 87:6-10. Newborns are responsive to
breast odors; this may be implicated in the development of attachment. 1-2% of
the human genome is for production of receptors for olfactory epithelium. The
authors speculate that human odor physiology may help initiate and stabilize
breastfeeding and reduce apoenic spells in infants.
        Seems like it is "time to stop and smell the roses" :-) Warmly, Nikki Lee