Odor habituation can modulate very early olfactory event-related potential

Kwangsu Kim,Youngsun Jin,Jisub Bae,Cheil Moon

doi:10.1038/s41598-020-75263-7

Kwangsu Kim, Youngsun Jin + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-75263-7

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Abstract

Odor habituation is a phenomenon that after repeated exposure to an odor, is characterized by decreased responses to it. The central nervous system is involved in odor habituation. To study odor habituation in humans, measurement of event-related potentials (ERPs) has been widely used in the olfactory system and other sensory systems, because of their high temporal resolution. Most previous odor habituation studies have measured the olfactory ERPs of (200–800) ms. However, several studies have shown that the odor signal is processed in the central nervous system earlier than at 200 ms. For these reasons, we studied whether when odors were habituated, olfactory ERP within 200 ms of odors could change. To this end, we performed an odor habituation behavior test and electroencephalogram experiments. In the behavior test, under habituation conditions, odor intensity was significantly decreased. We found significant differences in the negative and positive potentials within 200 ms across the conditions, which correlated significantly with the results of the behavior test. We also observed that ERP latency depended on the conditions. Our study suggests that odor habituation can involve the olfactory ERP of odors within 200 ms in the brain.

Highlights

Odor habituation is a phenomenon that after repeated exposure to an odor, is characterized by decreased responses to it
To verify whether odor habituation occurred under the “Same” condition, the perceived intensities of the odors offered in the behavior test were compared across the conditions (Fig. 2)
We found that when the odors were habituated, the event-related potentials (ERPs) signals of odors within 200 ms changed, and that these changes were related to odor habituation

Summary

Introduction

Odor habituation is a phenomenon that after repeated exposure to an odor, is characterized by decreased responses to it. Several studies have shown that the odor signal is processed in the central nervous system earlier than at 200 ms For these reasons, we studied whether when odors were habituated, olfactory ERP within 200 ms of odors could change. In previous mouse and monkey studies, decreasing electrical and blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) signals in the PC were observed during odor habituation[1,10,11,12,13,14] These studies showed that modulating neurons in the PC that express glutamate receptors affect odor habituation behavior[11,12,14]. Potential at (300–800) ms (P2) changed during odor h abituation[22,23] These studies in rodents and humans suggest that during odor habituation processing, temporal changes in the brain signals can exist. The studies imply that different temporal windows exist for rodents and humans, respectively

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