Olfactory perception

Metaphorical effects are commonly assumed to be unidirectional, running from concrete to abstract domains but not vice versa. Noting that metaphorical effects are often found to be bidirectional, we explore how they may be mediated and moderated according to the principles of knowledge accessibility and applicability. Using the example of "something smells fishy" (a metaphorical expression of social suspicion), 7 experiments tested for the behavioral effects of fishy smells on social suspicion among English speakers, the reversed effects of suspicion on smell labeling and detection, and the underlying mechanism. Incidental exposure to fishy smells induced suspicion and undermined cooperation in trust-based economic exchanges in a trust game (Study 1) and a public goods game (Study 2). Socially induced suspicion enhanced the correct labeling of fishy smells, but not other smells (Studies 3a-3c), an effect that could be mediated by the accessibility and moderated by the applicability of metaphorically associated concepts (Studies 4 -6). Suspicion also heightened detection sensitivity to low concentrations of fishy smells (Study 7). Bidirectionality, mediation, and moderation of metaphorical effects have important theoretical implications for integrating known wisdom from social cognition with new insights into the embodied and metaphorical nature of human thinking. These findings also highlight the need for exploring the cultural variability and origin of metaphorical knowledge.

An induction of disgust can lead to more negative attitudes toward an entire social group: Participants who were exposed to a noxious ambient odor reported less warmth toward gay men. This effect of disgust was equally strong for political liberals and conservatives, and was specific to attitudes toward gay men-there was only a weak effect of disgust on people's warmth toward lesbians, and no consistent effect on attitudes toward African Americans, the elderly, or a range of political issues.

We review our recent behavioural and imaging studies testing the consequences of congenital blindness on the chemical senses in comparison with the condition of anosmia. We found that congenitally blind (CB) subjects have increased sensitivity for orthonasal odorants and recruit their visually deprived occipital cortex to process orthonasal olfactory stimuli. In sharp contrast, CB perform less well than sighted controls in taste and retronasal olfaction, i.e. when processing chemicals inside the mouth. Interestingly, CB do not recruit their occipital cortex to process taste stimuli. In contrast to these findings in blindness, congenital anosmia is associated with lower taste and trigeminal sensitivity, accompanied by weaker activations within the 'flavour network' upon exposure to such stimuli. We conclude that functional adaptations to congenital anosmia or blindness are quite distinct, such that CB can train their exteroceptive chemical senses and recruit normally visual cortical areas to process chemical information from the surrounding environment.

Can humans communicate emotional states via chemical signals? In the experiment reported here, we addressed this question by examining the function of chemosignals in a framework furnished by embodied social communication theory. Following this theory, we hypothesized that the processes a sender experiences during distinctive emotional states are transmitted to receivers by means of the chemicals that the sender produces, thus establishing a multilevel correspondence between sender and receiver. In a double-blind experiment, we examined facial reactions, sensory-regulation processes, and visual search in response to chemosignals. We demonstrated that fear chemosignals generated a fearful facial expression and sensory acquisition (increased sniff magnitude and eye scanning); in contrast, disgust chemosignals evoked a disgusted facial expression and sensory rejection (decreased sniff magnitude, target-detection sensitivity, and eye scanning). These findings underline the neglected social relevance of chemosignals in regulating communicative correspondence outside of conscious access.

of wine tasters with Spanish healthy population using the Methods: Wine tasters were tested for smell and compared with a control group of healthy volunteers, by tasting 20 odours and scoring smell detection, identification, intensity, irritability, freshness, pleasure and forced choice. Results: Wine tasters performed significantly better on identification and forced choice than healthy controls. In addition, wine tasters perceived more odours as intense, but fewer as irritating than controls. Conclusions: Probably linked to smell education, wine tasters show better cognitive but not sensorial smell skills than a non-trained healthy population.

Metaphorical effects are commonly assumed to be unidirectional, running from concrete to abstract domains but not vice versa. Noting that metaphorical effects are often found to be bidirectional, we explore how they may be mediated and moderated according to the principles of knowledge accessibility and applicability. Using the example of "something smells fishy" (a metaphorical expression of social suspicion), 7 experiments tested for the behavioral effects of fishy smells on social suspicion among English speakers, the reversed effects of suspicion on smell labeling and detection, and the underlying mechanism. Incidental exposure to fishy smells induced suspicion and undermined cooperation in trust-based economic exchanges in a trust game (Study 1) and a public goods game (Study 2). Socially induced suspicion enhanced the correct labeling of fishy smells, but not other smells (Studies 3a-3c), an effect that could be mediated by the accessibility and moderated by the applicability of metaphorically associated concepts (Studies 4 -6). Suspicion also heightened detection sensitivity to low concentrations of fishy smells (Study 7). Bidirectionality, mediation, and moderation of metaphorical effects have important theoretical implications for integrating known wisdom from social cognition with new insights into the embodied and metaphorical nature of human thinking. These findings also highlight the need for exploring the cultural variability and origin of metaphorical knowledge.

It is generally acknowledged that people blind from birth develop supra-normal sensory abilities in order to compensate for their visual deficit. While extensive research has been done on the somatosensory and auditory modalities of the blind, information about their sense of smell remains scant. The goal of this study was therefore to compare odor perception and odor awareness in a group of 11 congenitally blind and 14 sighted control subjects. We measured odor detection threshold, odor discrimination and odor identification using the Sniffin'Sticks test. Participants also filled in the Odor Awareness Scale (OAS) to assess consciousness of olfactory sensations. Our data showed that blind subjects had a lower odor detection threshold compared to the sighted. However, no group differences were found for odor discrimination and odor identification. Interestingly, the OAS revealed that blind participants scored higher for odor awareness. The largest group differences were found for items of the OAS that measure responses to body odors and fragrances. We conclude that blind subjects rely more on their sense of smell than the sighted in order to assess their environment and to recognize places and other people.

Totalitarian regimes smell bad, literally and symbolically. The Nazi regime attempted to regulate the fashion and beauty industries via a prescribed natural, cosmetics-free ideal for women. At the other end of the olfactory spectrum, the stench of death from the camps was a central concern. In between, as economic conditions worsened, the Nazi leadership seriously discussed abolition of beauty products as unnecessary luxuries – but determined such policy risky and likely to antagonize women.
This article outlines the regime’s dealing with cosmetics from ideological prescription to economic elimination and glances into the private world of the Führer and his entourage. While based mostly on personal accounts it notes that bad odors linger as literary phenomena in recent German family histories about the Nazi time.

Little is known about the influence of visual characteristics other than colour on flavor perception, and the complex interactions between more than two sensory modalities. This study focused on the effects of recognizability of visual (texture) information on flavor perception of odorized sweet beverages. Participants rated the perceived sweetness of odorized sucrose solutions in the presence or absence of either a congruent or incongruent visual context. Odors were qualitatively reminiscent of sweet foods (strawberry and caramel) or not (savoury). Visual context was either an image of the same sweet foods (figurative context) or a visual texture derived from this product (non-figurative context). Textures were created using a texture synthesis method that preserved perceived food qualities while removing object information. Odortaste combinations were rated sweeter within a figurative than a non-figurative context. This behaviour was exhibited for all odor-taste combinations, even in trials without images, indicating sustained priming by figurative visual context. A nonfigurative context showed a transient sweetening effect. Sweetness was generally enhanced most by the strawberry odor. We conclude that the degree of recognizability of visual information (figurative versus non-figurative), influences flavor perception differently. Our results suggest that this visual context priming is mediated by separate sustained and transient processes that are differently evoked by figurative and non-figurative visual contexts. These components operate independent of the congruency of the image-odor-taste combinations.

Can scents evoke nostalgia; what might be the psychological implications of such an evocation? Participants sampled 12 scents and rated the extent to which each scent was familiar, arousing and autobiographically relevant, as well as the extent to which each scent elicited nostalgia. Participants who were high (compared to low) in nostalgia proneness reported more scent-evoked nostalgia, and scents elicited greater nostalgia to the extent that they were arousing, familiar and autobiographically relevant. Scent-evoked nostalgia predicted higher levels of positive affect, self-esteem, self-continuity, optimism, social connectedness and meaning in life. In addition, scent-evoked nostalgia was characterised by more positive emotions than either non-nostalgic autobiographical memories or non-nostalgic nonautobiographical memories. Finally, scent-evoked nostalgia predicted in-the-moment feelings of personal (general or object-specific) nostalgia. The findings represent a foray into understanding the triggers and affective signature of scent-evoked nostalgia.

Even though we often perceive odors while hearing auditory stimuli, surprisingly little is known about auditory-olfactory integration. This study aimed to investigate the influence of auditory cues on ratings of odor intensity and/or pleasantness, with a focus on 2 factors: ''congruency'' (Experiment 1) and the ''halo/horns effect'' of auditory pleasantness (Experiment 2). First, in Experiment 1, participants were presented with congruent, incongruent, or neutral sounds before and during the presentation of odor. Participants rated the odors as being more pleasant while listening to a congruent sound than while listening to an incongruent sound. In Experiment 2, participants received pleasant or unpleasant sounds before and during the presentation of either a pleasant or unpleasant odor. The hedonic valence of the sounds transferred to the odors, irrespective of the hedonic tone of the odor itself. The more the participants liked the preceding sound, the more pleasant the subsequent odor became. In contrast, the ratings of odor intensity appeared to be little or not at all influenced by the congruency or hedonic valence of the auditory cue. In conclusion, the present study for the first time provides an empirical demonstration that auditory cues can modulate odor pleasantness. a Mean Ô SD. Auditory-Olfactory Integration 307 by guest on May 25, 2016 http://chemse.oxfordjournals.org/ Downloaded from Zellner DA, Whitten LA. 1999. The effect of color intensity and appropriateness on color-induced odor enhancement. Am J Psychol. 112:585-604.

Predators can affect prey in two ways-by reducing their density (consumptive effects) or by changing their behavior, physiology or other phenotypic traits (non-consumptive effects). Understanding the cues and sensory modalities prey use to detect predators is critical for predicting the strength of non-consumptive effects and the outcome of predator-prey encounters. While predator-associated cues have been well studied in aquatic systems, less is known about how terrestrial prey, particularly insect larvae, detect their predators. We evaluated how Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata, larvae perceive predation risk by isolating cues from its stink bug predator, the spined soldier bug, Podisus maculiventris. When exposed to male "risk" predators that were surgically manipulated so they could hunt but not kill, beetles reduced feeding 29% compared to controls. Exposure to risk females caused an intermediate response. Beetles ate 24% less on leaves pre-exposed to...

Orthonasal Retronasal Flavor fMRI a b s t r a c t Eating implies mutual interactions between different senses. In the present work we aimed at studying relations between food texture and food odor, using both psychophysical and imaging techniques.

Phylogenetically the most ancient sense, olfaction is characterized by a unique intimacy with the emotion system. However, mechanisms underlying olfaction-emotion interaction remain unclear, especially in an ever-changing environment and dynamic internal milieu. Perturbing the internal state with anxiety induction in human subjects, we interrogated emotion-state-dependent olfactory processing in a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study. Following anxiety induction, initially neutral odors become unpleasant and take longer to detect, accompanied by augmented response to these odors in the olfactory (anterior piriform and orbitofrontal) cortices and emotion-relevant pregenual anterior cingulate cortex. In parallel, the olfactory sensory relay adapts with increased anxiety, incorporating amygdala as an integral step via strengthened (afferent or efferent) connections between amygdala and all levels of the olfactory cortical hierarchy. This anxiety-state-dependent neural circuitry thus enables cumulative infusion of limbic affective information throughout the olfactory sensory progression, thereby driving affectively charged olfactory perception. These findings could constitute an olfactory etiology model of emotional disorders, as exaggerated emotion-olfaction interaction in negative mood states turns innocuous odors aversive, fueling anxiety and depression with rising ambient sensory stress.

To develop a method for evaluating and designing the retronasal aroma of espresso, sensory evaluation data was correlated with data obtained from gas chromatography/olfactometry (GC/O, CharmAnalysis TM ) and from an electronic nose system αFOX4000 (E-nose). The volatile compounds of various kinds of espresso (arabica coffee beans from 6 production countries: Brazil, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Colombia, Indonesia, and Tanzania; 3 roasting degrees for each country: L values, 18, 23, and 26) were collected with a retronasal aroma simulator (RAS) and examined by GC/O and E-nose. In addition, sensory descriptive analysis using a 7-point scale for RAS effluent gas was performed by 5 trained flavorists using sensory descriptors selected based on the frequency in use and coefficient of correlation. The charm values of 10 odor descriptions obtained from GC/O analysis exhibited the significant (P < 0.05) differences among both roasting degrees and origins. Also, linear discriminant analysis (LDA) on the E-nose-sensor resistances and factor analysis on the sensory evaluation scores showed that the differences of aroma characteristics among the roasting degrees were larger than those among the origins. Based on an artificial neural network (ANN) model applied to the data from GC/O analyses and sensory evaluations, the perceptual factor of the RAS aroma was predicted to be mainly affected by sweet-caramel, smoke-roast, and acidic odors. Also, 3 metal oxide semiconductor sensors (LY2/Gh, P30/1, and T40/1) of E-nose were selected for analyses of RAS aroma and correlated with the sensory descriptive scores by the ANN to support sensory evaluation.

The human ability to localize odorants has been examined in a number of studies, but the findings are contradictory. In the present study we investigated the human sensitivity and ability to localize hydrogen sulphide (H 2 S), which in low concentrations stimulates the olfactory system selectively, the olfactorytrigeminal substance isoamyl acetate (IAA), and the trigeminal substance carbon dioxide (CO 2 ). A general requirement for testing of localization was the conscious perception of the applied stimuli by the participants. Using Signal Detection Theory, we determined the human sensitivity in response to stimulation with these substances. Then the subjects' ability to localize the three different substances was tested. We found that humans can detect H 2 S in low concentration (2 ppm) with moderate sensitivity, and possess a high sensitivity in response to stimulation with 8 ppm H 2 S, 17.5% IAA, 50% v/v CO 2 . In the localization experiment, subjects could localize neither the low nor the high concentration of H 2 S. In contrast, subjects possessed the ability to localize IAA and CO 2 stimuli. These results clearly demonstrate that humans, in spite of the aware perception, are not able to localize substances which only activate the olfactory system independent of their concentration, but they possess an ability to localize odorants that additionally excite the trigeminal system.

This overview focuses on autobiographical odor memory and how information evoked by the olfactory sense may differ from memories evoked by visual or verbal information. Three key topics are addressed: (a) age distributions of evoked memories; (b) phenomenological experience; and (c) semantic processing. Current evidence suggests that memories triggered by olfactory information are localized to the first decade of life (< 10 years) rather than to young adulthood (10-30 years) which is the typical finding for memories evoked by verbal and visual information. Further, empirical evidence indicates that odor evoked memories are more emotional, associated with stronger feelings of being brought back in time, and have been thought of less often as compared to memories evoked by other sensory cues. Finally, previous observations of a significant impact of semantic influences on olfactory processing may also be generalized to retrieval of odor evoked autobiographical information. Specifically, both the age distribution and phenomenological qualities are affected by explicit knowledge of the odor cue. Taken together, the overall pattern of findings indicates that personal memories evoked by olfactory information are different from memories evoked by verbal or visual information.

Some chemicals elicit innate emotionally laden behavioral responses. Pheromones mediate sexual attraction, parental care or agonistic confrontation, whereas predators' kairomones elicit defensive behaviors in their preys. This essay explores the hypothesis that the detection of these semiochemicals relies on highly specific olfactory and/or vomeronasal receptors. The V1R, V2R, and formyl-peptide vomeronasal receptors bind their ligands in highly specific and sensitive way, thus being good candidates for pheromoneor kairomone-detectors (e.g., secreted and excreted proteins, peptides and lipophilic volatiles). The olfactory epithelium also expresses specific receptors, for example trace amine-associated receptors (TAAR) and guanylyl cyclase receptors (GC-D and other types), some of which bind kairomones and putative pheromones. However, most of the olfactory neurons express canonical olfactory receptors (ORs) that bind many ligands with different affinity, being not suitable for mediating responses to pheromones and kairomones. In this respect, trimethylthiazoline (TMT) is considered a fox-derived kairomone for mice and rats, but it seems to be detected by canonical ORs. Therefore, we have reassessed the kairomonal nature of TMT by analyzing the behavioral responses of outbred (CD1) and inbred mice (C57BL/J6) to TMT. Our results confirm that both mouse strains avoid TMT, which increases immobility in C57BL/J6, but not CD1 mice. However, mice of both strains sniff at TMT throughout the test and show no trace of TMT-induced contextual conditioning (immobility or avoidance). This suggests that TMT is not a kairomone but, similar to a loud noise, in high concentrations it induces aversion and stress as unspecific responses to a strong olfactory stimulation.

The human brain's ability to adapt to environmental changes is obvious in specific sensory domains of experts, and olfaction is one of the least investigated senses. As we have previously demonstrated that olfactory expertise is related to functional brain modifications, we investigated here whether olfactory expertise is also coupled with structural changes. We used voxel-based morphometry to compare the gray-matter volume in student and professional perfumers, as well as untrained control subjects, and accounted for all methodological improvements that have been recently developed to limit possible errors associated with image processing. In all perfumers, we detected an increase in gray-matter volume in the bilateral gyrus rectus/medial orbital gyrus (GR/MOG), an orbitofrontal area that surrounds the olfactory sulcus. In addition, gray-matter volume in the anterior PC and left GR/MOG was positively correlated with experience in professional perfumers. We concluded that the acute olfactory knowledge acquired through extensive olfactory training leads to the structural reorganization of olfactory brain areas.

Does hedonic appreciation evolve differently for pleasant odors and unpleasant odors during normal aging? To answer this question we combined psychophysics and electro-encephalographic recordings in young and old adults. A first study showed that pleasant odorants (but not unpleasant ones) were rated as less pleasant by old adults. A second study validated this decrease in hedonic appreciation for agreeable odors and further showed that smelling these odorants decreased beta event-related synchronization in aged participants. In conclusion, the study offers new insights into the evolution of odor hedonic perception during normal aging, highlighting for the first time a change in processing pleasant odors.

Excessive intake of dietary salt (sodium chloride) may increase the risk of chronic diseases. Accordingly, various strategies to reduce salt intake have been conducted. This study aimed to investigate whether a salty-congruent odor can enhance saltiness on the basis of psychophysical (Experiment 1) and neuroanatomical levels (Experiment 2). In Experiment 1, after receiving one of six stimulus conditions: three odor conditions (odorless air, congruent, or incongruent odor) by two concentrations (low or high) of either salty or sweet taste solution, participants were asked to rate taste intensity and pleasantness. In Experiment 2, participants received the same stimuli during the functional magnetic resonance imaging scan. In Experiment 1, compared with an incongruent odor and/or odorless air, a congruent odor enhanced not only taste intensity but also either pleasantness of sweetness or unpleasantness of saltiness. In Experiment 2, a salty-congruent combination of odor and taste produced significantly higher neuronal activations in brain regions associated with odor-taste integration (e.g., insula, frontal operculum, anterior cingulate cortex, and orbitofrontal cortex) than an incongruent combination and/or odorless air with taste solution. In addition, the congruent odor-induced saltiness enhancement was more pronounced in the low-concentrated tastant than in the high-concentrated one. In conclusion, this study demonstrates the congruent odor-induced saltiness enhancement on the basis of psychophysical and neuroanatomical results. These findings support an alternative strategy to reduce excessive salt intake by adding salty-congruent aroma to sodium reduced food. However, there are open questions regarding the salty-congruent odor-induced taste unpleasantness. Hum Brain Mapp 00:000-000,

In dioecious, zoophilous plants potential pollinators have to be attracted to both sexes and switch between individuals of both sexes for pollination to occur. It often has been suggested that males and females require different numbers of visits for maximum reproductive success because male fertility is more likely limited by access to mates, whereas female fertility is rather limited by resource availability. According to sexual selection theory, males therefore should invest more in pollinator attraction (advertisement, reward) than females. However, our knowledge on the sex specific investment in floral rewards and advertisement, and its effects on pollinator behaviour is limited. Here, we use an approach that includes chemical, spectrophotometric, and behavioural studies i) to elucidate differences in floral nectar reward and advertisement (visual, olfactory cues) in dioecious sallow, Salix caprea, ii) to determine the relative importance of visual and olfactory floral cues in attracting honey bee pollinators, and iii) to test for differential attractiveness of female and male inflorescence cues to honey bees. Nectar amount and sugar concentration are comparable, but sugar composition varies between the sexes. Olfactory sallow cues are more attractive to honey bees than visual cues; however, a combination of both cues elicits the strongest behavioural responses in bees. Male flowers are due to the yellow pollen more colourful and emit a higher amount of scent than females. Honey bees prefer the visual but not the olfactory display of males over those of females. In all, the data of our multifaceted study are consistent with the sexual selection theory and provide novel insights on how the model organism honey bee uses visual and olfactory floral cues for locating host plants.

In external medicine, types and ratios of additives are not necessarily the same for well-known brand-name drugs and generic drugs. This study sought to compare the physicochemical properties and sensory test results of a brand-name Acyclovir (ACV) cream and two generic ACV creams. Near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy revealed changes in absorption spectra attributed to differences in the oil and water content of the 3 creams. In addition, ACV-B and ACV-C had similar NIR absorption spectra. Microscopic examination revealed crystallization in each of the creams and droplets in ACV-C. Powder X-ray diffraction measurement revealed diffraction peaks due to ACV for ACV-A and ACV-B. Assessment of viscoelasticity indicated that stress of subjection to 35 °C caused no changes in the viscoelasticity of ACV-B and ACV-C in comparison to stress of subjection to 25 °C but it did cause the viscoelasticity of ACV-A to decrease. ACV-A had a greater tolerance to stress and a higher viscosity, tan δ, and...

Foraging success of parasitoids depends on the utilization of reliable information on the presence of their often, inconspicuous hosts. These parasitic wasps use herbivore-induced plant volatiles (HIPVs) that provide reliable cues on host presence. However, host searching of hyperparasitoids, a group of parasitoids that parasitize the larvae and pupae of other parasitoids, is more constrained. Their hosts do not feed on plants, and often are even concealed inside the body of the herbivore host. Hyperparasitoids recently have been found to use HIPVs of plants damaged by herbivore hosts in which the parasitoid larvae develop. However, hyperparasitoids that search for these parasitoid larvae may be confronted with healthy and parasitized caterpillars on the same plant, further complicating their host location. In this study, we addressed whether the primary hyperparasitoid Baryscapus galactopus uses caterpillar body odors to discriminate between unparasitized herbivores and herbivores carrying larvae of parasitoid hosts. We show that the hyperparasitoids made faster first contact and spent a longer mounting time with parasitized caterpillars. Moreover, although the three parasitoid hosts conferred different fitness values for the development of B. galactopus, the hyperparasitoids showed similar behavioral responses to caterpillar hosts carrying different primary parasitoid hosts. In addition, a two-chamber olfactometer assay revealed that volatiles emitted by parasitized caterpillars were more attractive to the hyperparasitoids than those emitted by unparasitized caterpillars. Analysis of volatiles revealed that body odors of parasitized caterpillars differ from unparasitized caterpillars, allowing the hyperparasitoids to detect their parasitoid host.

The aim of the present study was to assess the effect of age on cerebral correlates of olfactory induced negative emotions. We investigated 15 healthy women (aged 21-47) in a functional MRI (fMRI) study during passive smelling of one negative odor (rotten yeast) and two control conditions presenting a neutral odor (vanilla) and odorless ambient air. Besides odor-specific differences in ratings of valence (yeast less pleasant than vanilla and air), intensity (yeast more intense than vanilla and air), and arousal (yeast more arousing than vanilla and air), self-ratings verified the intended mood induction effect: subjects experienced more disgust during yeast stimulation compared to ambient air and vanilla. Along with the superior temporal cortex, medial, and lateral orbitofrontal activations were found to discriminate between negative and neutral olfactory stimulation (yeast and vanilla) directly. Activations of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the caudate were correlated with age and showed stronger valencerelated responses (yeast vs. vanilla) in younger compared to older women. Stronger BOLD signals within the anterior cingulate gyrus, insula and motor areas were found during negative compared to neutral stimulation and are considered to represent an attempt to down-regulate the strong emotional experience and the organisms' preparation for withdrawal, respectively. Our results stress the role of orbitofrontal and superior temporal brain regions in odor-related valence coding and stress the necessity to consider age as a modulating factor for further studies, even in relatively young samples.

Totalitarian regimes smell bad, literally and symbolically. The Nazi regime attempted to regulate the fashion and beauty industries via a prescribed natural, cosmetics-free ideal for women. At the other end of the olfactory spectrum, the stench of death from the camps was a central concern. In between, as economic conditions worsened, the Nazi leadership seriously discussed abolition of beauty products as unnecessary luxuries – but determined such policy risky and likely to antagonize women.
This article outlines the regime’s dealing with cosmetics from ideological prescription to economic elimination and glances into the private world of the Führer and his entourage. While based mostly on personal accounts it notes that bad odors linger as literary phenomena in recent German family histories about the Nazi time.

The Odor Awareness Scale (OAS) is a questionnaire designed to assess individual differences in awareness of odors in the environment. The theory that odor awareness can be distinguished in awareness of negative (to be avoided) odors and positive (to be approached) odors was tested using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) on the 34-item questionnaire after completion by 525 respondents. CFA (after deletion of 2 items) showed good fit of the 2-factor theory, resulting in a positive awareness subscale (11 items, Cronbach's a = .77) and a negative awareness subscale (21 items, Cronbach's a = .80). Furthermore, reports of sickness from environmental odors were correlated with the negative odor awareness factor, not the positive odor awareness factor. Respondents scoring high on the overall sum score of the OAS showed significantly better olfactory performance on an odor perception test battery than respondents with a low score. These results suggest a causal relation between awareness of potentially negative odors, olfactory performance and experiencing health effects from environmental odor exposure, that warrants further investigation.

Pavlovian fear conditioning has been thoroughly studied in the visual, auditory and somatosensory domain, but evidence is scarce with regard to the chemosensory modality. Under the assumption that Pavlovian conditioning relies on the supra-modal mechanism of salience attribution, the present study was set out to attest the existence of chemosensory aversive conditioning in humans as a specific instance of salience attribution. fMRI was performed in 29 healthy subjects during a differential aversive conditioning paradigm. Two odors (rose, vanillin) served as conditioned stimuli (CS), one of which (CS+) was intermittently coupled with intranasally administered CO 2 . On the neural level, a robust differential response to the CS+ emerged in frontal, temporal, occipito-parietal and subcortical brain regions, including the amygdala. These changes were paralleled by the development of a CS+-specific connectivity profile of the anterior midcingulate cortex (aMCC), which is a key structure for processing salience information in order to guide adaptive response selection. Increased coupling could be found between key nodes of the salience network (anterior insula, neo-cerebellum) and sensorimotor areas, representing putative input and output structures of the aMCC for exerting adaptive motor control. In contrast, behavioral and skin conductance responses did not show significant effects of conditioning, which has been attributed to contingency unawareness. These findings imply substantial similarities of conditioning involving chemosensory and other sensory modalities, and suggest that salience attribution and adaptive control represent a general, modality-independent principle underlying Pavlovian conditioning.

Genomic imprinting represents a mechanism through which parent-of-origin effects on offspring development may be mediated. However, investigation of the influence of imprinted genes on behavior has been limited. Here the authors investigate the role of the maternally imprinted/paternally expressed gene, Peg3, in several aspects of behavior using both 129Sv-and B6-Peg3 mutant female mice. Virgin Peg3 females on both genetic backgrounds were less exploratory and had higher rates of defecation with strain-dependent effects on activity levels and olfactory discrimination. Reproductive success, pup retrieval, and postnatal maternal care of pups were reduced in these females whereas indices of maternal aggression were higher among B6 Peg3-KO females. Differences in maternal care were apparent in females caring for biological or cross-fostered offspring and deficits in pup retrieval apparent beyond the immediate postpartum period. Oxytocin receptor binding in the MPOA and LS was reduced in Peg3-KO females. Thus, the authors demonstrate that disruptions to Peg3 influences aspects of female behavior that are critical for mediating maternal effects on offspring development, such as postpartum licking/ grooming, and that effects of Peg3 are dependent on the maternal genetic background.

The aim of the present work was to identify and quantify physical mechanisms responsible for innose aroma release during the consumption of mint-flavored carbonated beverages in order to better understand how they are perceived. The effect of two composition factors (sugar and CO 2 ) was investigated on both the sensory and physicochemical properties of drinks by studying in vitro and in vivo aroma release. Sensory results revealed that the presence of CO 2 increased aroma perception regardless of the sugar content. In agreement with volatility parameters, in vivo measurements showed that carbonated drinks released a greater quantity of aroma compounds in the nose space than non-carbonated ones. CO 2 seemed thus to induce large modifications of the physicochemical mechanisms responsible for the aroma release and flavor perception of soft drinks. Moreover, sugar content seemed to have an impact (increase) on aroma perception only in the case of non-carbonated beverages. Sensory interactions were thus observed, in particular, between sweet and aroma perceptions. For carbonated beverages, sugar content had an impact only on aroma release, but not on their perception. ; telephone +33 (0)1 30 81 54 38; fax +33 ].

Emotion and odor scales (EOS) measuring odor-related affective feelings were recently developed for three different countries (Switzerland, United Kingdom, and Singapore). The first aim of this study was to investigate gender and cultural differences in verbal affective response to odors, measured with EOS and the usual pleasantness scale. To better understand this variability, the second aim was to investigate the link between affective reports and olfactory knowledge (familiarity and identification). Responses of 772 participants smelling 56-59 odors were collected in the three countries. Women rated odors as more intense and identified them better in all countries, but no reliable sex differences were found for verbal affective responses to odors. Disgust-related feelings revealed odor-dependent sex differences, due to sex differences in identification and categorization. Further, increased odor knowledge was related to more positive affects as reported with pleasantness and odor-related feeling evaluations, which can be related to top-down influences on odor representation. These top-down influences were thought, for example, to relate to beliefs about odor properties or to categorization (edible vs. nonedible). Finally, the link between odor knowledge and olfactory affect was generally asymmetrical and significant only for pleasant odors, not for unpleasant ones that seemed to be more resistant to cognitive influences. This study, for the first time using emotional scales that are appropriate to the olfactory domain, brings new insights into the variability of affective responses to odors and its relationship to odor knowledge.

Functional neuroimaging methods have been used extensively during the last decades to explore the neural substrates of olfactory processing. While a general consensus on the functional anatomy of olfactory cortex is beginning to emerge, the mechanisms behind the functions of individual processing nodes still remain debated. Further, it remains unclear to which extent divergent findings result from differences in methodological approaches. Using Activation Likelihood Estimation (ALE), the aim of the present study was to statistically combine all published data on functional neuroimaging of olfaction to provide a probability map reflecting the state of the field to date. Additionally, we grouped studies according to various methodological approaches to investigate whether these systematically affected the reported findings. A total of 45 studies (69 contrasts, 594 foci) met our inclusion criteria. Significant ALE peaks for odor against baseline were observed in areas commonly labeled as primary and secondary olfactory cortex, such as the piriform and orbitofrontal cortex, amygdala, anterior insula, and ventral putamen. In addition, differences were observed in the extent to which different methods were able to induce activation in these different nodes of the olfactory network.

The influences of perceived odor qualities on the retention of olfactory information across the adult lifespan were examined. Young (19-36 years), young-old (60-74 years), and old (75-91 years) adults (n = 202) rated a set of unfamiliar odors across a series of perceptual dimensions (i.e., pleasantness, intensity, and irritability) at encoding. The overall results indicated that memory for unpleasant olfactory information was better than that for pleasant odors across the lifespan. Also, participants showed better retention for odors perceived with high intensity and irritability than for odors rated with low or medium scores. Interestingly, the old adults showed selective beneficial memory effects for odors rated as highly irritable. To the extent that perceptions of high irritability reflect an activation of the trigeminal sensory system, this finding suggests that older adults may use trigeminal components in odor information to compensate for age-related impairments in olfactory memory.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of increased atmospheric pressure (AP) on olfactory function. The present study included 40 healthy volunteers with no history of chronic rhinosinusitis and nasal polyposis. The experimental procedure consisted of two episodes: (a) baseline episode, with normal AP; 1 absolute atmosphere (atm abs) in a test room at sea level; (b) experimental episode, increased level of AP; 2.4 atm abs in the hyperbaric chamber. Sino-nasal outcome test-20, Trail Making Test A and olfactory testing were performed in each episodes. The study group consisted of 23 men (57.5%) and 17 women (42.5%); the mean age of the study population was 38.7 +/- 9 years (range 23-58 years). The current investigation produced two major findings: (1) the mean of odor threshold scores was significantly increased in the hyperbaric condition when compared to the normobaric condition; (2) rather, there was no significant change in odor discrimination and identification scor...