Abstract
PurposeOlfactory adaptation is a peripheral (at the epithelium level) or a central (at the brain level) mechanism resulting from repeated or prolonged odorous exposure that can induce a perceptual decrease. The aim of this study was to assess whether a peripheral adaptation occurs when an odor is repeated ten times. Moreover, the specificity of the peripheral adaptation to the nature of the odorant was investigated.MethodsFour odorants (eugenol, manzanate, ISO E Super and phenylethanol) were presented using precisely controlled air-dilution olfactometry. They differed in terms of their physicochemical properties. Electrophysiological recordings were made at the level of the olfactory mucosa, the so-called electro-olfactogram (EOG). Thirty-five right-handed participants were recruited.ResultsSixty-nine percent of the participants presented at least one EOG, whatever the odor condition. The EOG amplitude did not significantly decrease over 10 repeated exposures to any odorant. The intensity ratings tended to decrease over stimulations for manzanate, PEA, and eugenol. No correlation was found between the mean EOG amplitudes and the mean intensity ratings. However, the presence of EOG amplitude decreases over stimulations for few subjects suggests that peripheral adaptation might exist.ConclusionOverall, our results did not establish a clear peripheral adaptation measured with EOG but indicate the eventuality of such an effect.
Highlights
We are surrounded by hundreds of cues which attentional priority needs to be constantly addressed to react quickly in a changing environment
Habituation and adaptation are necessary to sort out what is neutral/uninformative from what constitutes a meaningful stimulation in a specific context; this is true in olfaction which allows detecting danger [1]
This consequence is called habituation, which may be translated into a progressive decrease in some perceptual components [2] such as a decrease in intensity [3, 4], a change in hedonicity that tends toward neutrality [5], etc
Summary
We are surrounded by hundreds of cues which attentional priority needs to be constantly addressed to react quickly in a changing environment. Department French National Institute for Agricultural Research, Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l’Alimentation (CSGA), Dijon, France a central mechanism resulting from a repeated or prolonged odorous exposure that induces a decrease in responses or behaviors. This consequence is called habituation, which may be translated into a progressive decrease in some perceptual components [2] such as a decrease in intensity [3, 4], a change in hedonicity that tends toward neutrality [5], etc. If these filters did not exist, the brain would be overwhelmed with information very quickly
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