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Chemical Senses Advance Access originally published online on August 30, 2007
Chemical Senses 2008 33(1):23-33; doi:10.1093/chemse/bjm059
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© The Author 2007. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Body Position-Dependent Shift in Odor Percept Present Only for Perithreshold Odors

Johan N. Lundström1, Julie A. Boyle1 and Marilyn Jones-Gotman1,2

1 Department of Psychology 2 Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, McGill University, Montreal, Canada

Correspondence to be sent to: Johan N. Lundström, Monell Chemical Senses Center, 3500 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104-3308, USA. e-mail: jlundstrom{at}monell.org


  Abstract

We recently demonstrated that a supine position causes a decrease in olfactory sensitivity compared with an upright position. We pursued that initial finding in 3 separate experiments in which we explored the extent of, and mechanism underlying, this phenomenon. In Experiment 1, we replicated the decrease in olfactory sensitivity when in a supine compared with an upright position. In Experiment 2, we measured body position–dependent shifts in physiological variables and sniff measures while smelling suprathreshold odorants and performing a perithreshold odor intensity discrimination task. Olfactory performances were reduced while supine. However, no relationships between the shift in olfactory performances and either the physiological variables or sniff measures were found. In Experiment 3, we determined that there were no position-dependent shifts in ability to discriminate or identify suprathreshold odors or rate them for pleasantness, intensity, or familiarity. However, a drop in scores was observed, and performance was slowed, on a cognitive skill while supine. These results demonstrate a body position–dependent shift in olfactory sensitivity only for perithreshold odors that appears to be mediated by cognitive rather than physiological factors. Implications for olfactory imaging studies are discussed.

Key words: imaging, posture, sensitivity, sniffing

Accepted 6 August 2007


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