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Chemical Senses Advance Access originally published online on May 10, 2007
Chemical Senses 2007 32(6):583-589; doi:10.1093/chemse/bjm027
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© The Author 2007. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Emotional Stimulation Alters Olfactory Sensitivity and Odor Judgment

Olga Pollatos1,2, Rainer Kopietz1, Jennifer Linn1, Jessica Albrecht1, Vehbi Sakar1, Andrea Anzinger1, Rainer Schandry2 and Martin Wiesmann1

1 Department of Neuroradiology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich, Marchioninistrasse 15, 81377 Munich, Germany 2 Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich, Leopoldstrasse 13, 80802 Munich, Germany

Correspondence to be sent to: Olga Pollatos, Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich, Leopoldstrasse 13, 80802 Munich, Germany. e-mail: pollatos{at}psy.uni-muenchen.de


  Abstract

Emotions have a strong influence on the perception of visual and auditory stimuli. Only little is known about the relation between emotional stimulation and olfactory functions. The present study investigated the relationship between the presentation of affective pictures, olfactory functions, and sex. Olfactory performance was assessed in 32 subjects (16 male). Olfactory sensitivity was significantly reduced following unpleasant picture presentation for all subjects and following pleasant picture presentation for male subjects only. Pleasantness and intensity ratings of a neutral suprathreshold odor were related to the valence of the pictures: After unpleasant picture presentation, the odor was rated as less pleasant and more intense, whereas viewing positive pictures induced a significant increase in reported odor pleasantness. We conclude that inducing a negative emotional state reduces olfactory sensitivity. A relation to functional deviations within the primary olfactory cortices is discussed.

Key words: arousal, emotion, olfaction, threshold

Accepted 27 March 2007


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