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Chemical Senses Advance Access originally published online on March 15, 2008
Chemical Senses 2008 33(5):433-440; doi:10.1093/chemse/bjn010
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© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Effects of Olfactory Stimuli on Arm-Reaching Duration

Federico Tubaldi1, Caterina Ansuini1, M. Luisa Demattè2, Roberto Tirindelli3 and Umberto Castiello1,4

1 Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Via Venezia 8, 35131, Padua, Italy 2 Department of Cognitive Sciences and Education, Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Corso Bettini 31, 38068, Trento, Italy 3 Department of Neuroscience, University of Parma, via Volturno, 39/E, 43100, Parma, Italy 4 Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey, TW027, London, UK

Correspondence to be sent to: Umberto Castiello, Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Via Venezia 8, 35131, Padua, Italy. e-mail: umberto.castiello{at}unipd.it


  Abstract

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of olfactory stimuli on visually guided reaching. In Experiment 1, participants reached toward and grasped either a small (almond/strawberry) or a large (apple/orange) visual target. Any 1 of 4 odors corresponding to the visual stimuli or odorless air was administered before movement initiation. Within the same block of trials, participants smelled 1) an odor associated with an object of a different size than the target, 2) an odor associated with an object of a size equal to that of the target, or 3) odorless air. Results indicated that reaching duration was longer for trials in which the odor "size" and the visual target did not match than when they matched. In Experiment 2, the same procedures were applied but the "no-odor" trials were administered in a separate block to the "odor" trials. Similar results as for Experiment 1 were found. However, in contrast to Experiment 1, the presence of an odor increased the level of alertness resulting in a shortening of reaching duration. We contend that olfactory stimuli have the capacity to elicit motor plans interfering with those programmed for a movement toward a visual stimulus.

Accepted 18 February 2008


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