Rachel Herz, Ph.D.

Rachel Herz has been conducting research on olfaction, emotion and sensory cognition since 1990, and has been on the faculty at Brown University since 2000.  Her research has shown how odor-evoked memory is emotionally unique and evocative compared to other memory experiences, how emotional associations can change odor perception, and how odors can be conditioned to emotions and subsequently influence motivated behavior.  Her work also addresses how language and context alter olfactory perception, the role of body-odor and fragrance in heterosexual attraction, and mechanisms involved in scent-marketing.   She has published over 55 research papers, contributed numerous chapters to college textbooks and academic anthologies, received a number of grants and prestigious awards.  Her research on sensory memory was on display from 2001-2006 in a traveling Smithsonian Institution exhibit called "Brain: The world inside your head."   In October 2007, Rachel’s first popular science book: The Scent of Desire: Discovering Our Enigmatic Sense of Smell (William Morrow/Harper-Collins) was published and selected as a finalist for the “2009 AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books.”   Rachel is currently investigating various facets of the emotion of disgust as it relates to taste, smell, neurobiology, morality and culture.  She is writing a new book which explores these topics.