Olfactory speed - Temporal odor processing of paired stimuli

V A Schriever; C Frenzel; S Wernecke; I Croy; C Valder; T Hummel

doi:10.1016/j.neuroscience.2015.03.029

Olfactory speed - Temporal odor processing of paired stimuli

Neuroscience. 2015 Jun 4:295:72-9. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2015.03.029. Epub 2015 Mar 23.

Authors

V A Schriever¹, C Frenzel², S Wernecke³, I Croy⁴, C Valder⁵, T Hummel⁶

Affiliations

¹ Smell & Taste Clinic, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University of Dresden Medical School, Dresden, Germany; Department of Neuropediatrics, University of Dresden Medical School, Dresden, Germany. Electronic address: valentin.schriever@mac.com.
² Smell & Taste Clinic, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University of Dresden Medical School, Dresden, Germany. Electronic address: fcindy@web.de.
³ Smell & Taste Clinic, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University of Dresden Medical School, Dresden, Germany. Electronic address: sandrawernecke@web.de.
⁴ Smell & Taste Clinic, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University of Dresden Medical School, Dresden, Germany; Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Electronic address: Ilona.Croy@neuro.gu.se.
⁵ Frey and Lau, Henstedt-Ulzburg, Germany. Electronic address: cvalder@freylau.de.
⁶ Smell & Taste Clinic, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University of Dresden Medical School, Dresden, Germany. Electronic address: thummel@mail.zih.tu-dresden.de.

PMID: 25813706
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2015.03.029

Abstract

Objectives: Compared to other senses, temporal perception of odors seems fairly slow. In addition it has been shown in previous studies that even not consciously perceived odors could influence our behavior. Aim of the current study therefore was to study the interstimulus interval (ISI) length, which is necessary between two repetitive stimuli to be able to perceive them separately. The additional aim focused on observing central odor processing of not perceived odorous stimuli.

Materials and methods: The study was divided into three parts. In each part healthy, normosmic volunteers were included. In part I and II stimulus pairs (CO2, H2S, orange and phenyl ethyl alcohol (PEA)) were presented to the subjects via a computer-controlled olfactometer with short ISI of 0.6-9s. The decision whether one or two stimuli were perceived was recorded. In addition the influence of odor valence, trigeminallity and concentrations was observed. In part III olfactory event-related potentials (OERPs) to perceived and not-perceived odors were recorded.

Results: The two stimuli of a stimulus pair were perceived separately more often with increasing ISI length. This increase was significant until an ISI between the stimuli of 4s. Odor intensity, pleasantness, trigeminallity and sex had no major influence on this. In addition we were able to observe that OERPs are less often detected in response to not perceived olfactory stimuli. However, the presence of OERP in response to not perceived stimuli in more than half of the cases indicated that even not perceived stimuli are centrally processed.

Keywords: event-related potentials; odor perception; temporal.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Dose-Response Relationship, Drug
Electroencephalography
Evoked Potentials, Somatosensory / physiology*
Female
Humans
Male
Odorants*
Olfactory Perception / physiology*
Reaction Time / physiology*
Smell / physiology*
Time Factors
Young Adult