Scents and Sensibility:

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Scents and Sensibility The intersection of
smell and thinking
Tyler S. Lorig, Ph.D.
http//www.rc.cc.ca.us/academic/CollegePublication
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They haven't got no noses,The fallen sons of
EveEven the smell of rosesIs not what they
supposesBut more than mind disclosesAnd more
than men believe.
G.K. Chesterton, Song of Quoodle
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http//www.larryslaughs.com/llc/101801/itchy20nos
e9.htm
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Cannis familiaris
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From a clinical point of view, the importance of
the olfactory system is slight, just as the sense
of smell is of relatively minor importance in the
normal life of civilized man.

• Brodal,
• Neurological Anatomy, 3rd

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Kyara
1 oz 2,987.50
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From Stoddart, 1986
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U.S. Consumer Market 2001 Source Kline Co.
Fine Fragrances for Men and Women 4.4 billion
Functional Fragrances
Toiletries (soap, deodorant, bath) 6.6
billion
Hair care products 6.1 billion
Laundry products 6.1 billion
Home fragrances 2.3 billion
Total Market 25.5 billion
From Gilbert and Firestein, Nature Neuroscience
2003
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Human axillary secretions influence women's
menstrual cycles the role of donor extract of
females.Preti G, Cutler WB, Garcia CR, Huggins
GR, Lawley HJ. Horm Behav 1986
Dec20(4)474-874-82
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Acta Paediatr 2001 Apr90(4)372-5 Breast odour
as the only maternal stimulus elicits crawling
towards the odour source.Varendi H, Porter
RH. Children's Clinic of Clinics of Tartu
University In previous studies, newborn infants
placed on their mother's chest grasped a nipple
and sucked without assistance. Furthermore,
neonates sucked preferentially from an untreated
breast rather than the alternative breast that
had been washed to eliminate its natural odour.
This study investigated the influence of breast
odours per se on orientated physical movement of
neonates. In total, 22 babies were observed
during two trials on a warming bed. In one
trial, a pad carrying the mother's breast odour
was placed 17 cm in front of the baby's nose in
the other trial a clean pad was used. More
babies moved towards and reached the breast pad
than the clean pad. Conclusion Natural breast
odous unsupported by other maternal stimuli
therefore appear to be sufficient to attract and
guide neonates to the odour source.
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Unconscious odour conditioning in human
subjects.Kirk-Smith MD, Van Toller C, Dodd
GH.Biol Psychol 1983 Sep-Nov17(2-3)221-31 In
the first session, two groups of male and female
subjects were given a stressful task involving
the completion of eleven WAIS block patterns
under time limitations. A low intensity of a
neutral odour (TUA) was present for half of the
subjects. During a second session several days
later, subjects completed a mood rating scale
and then entered a room, where the odour of TUA
was present, to judge a series of photographs of
people and complete a second mood rating scale.
During the first session female subjects
completed significantly fewer block patterns,
and completed fewer correct designs. In the
second session, female subjects who had
experienced TUA odour in the stress condition
showed an increase in anxiety ratings. They also
had higher ratings scores when judging the
photographs. In contrast, subjects who did not
experience odour during the stress session became
calmer during the second session. None of the
female subjects reported perceiving the odour
irn either session. As both pairing and
elicitation occurred at low levels of awareness,
the study demonstrates how odours might acquire
values through pairing with emotionally
significant events.
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National Geographic (1986)
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Verbal/Spatial paradigm
hot
cold
Response yes or no
Response yes or no
Response yes or no
Response yes or no
odor
or
flash
respiration
0.5 sec
inspiration
NY Acad Sci, 1997
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Picture of subject
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Add languag X spatial head maps
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Larger Task
Spatial
Verbal
mouse
moon
cat
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Why should some odors interfere with linguistic
tasks but not spatial?
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Belin et al., 1998, J. of Cognitive Neuroscience
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Magnetoencephalographic responses to odor
stimulation
ECD III
(Equivalent Current Dipole)
Kettenman Kobal, Chemical Senses,1998
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Adapted from Laing et al. 1984
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Dehaene et al. Science, 1999
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Exact
Estimate
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.
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.
1423
1423
300 msec
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Increasing the odor formant frequency should
affect the brain processes used to perform the
exact solutions but not estimates
PEA
VAN
Mix
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Odor Mixtures and Math
Exact
Estimate
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.
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.
1423
1423
300 msec
Odor
Biological Psychology. In press
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n.s.
Vanillin
Phenethyl alcohol
n.s.
n.s.
P300 for Estimated Solution
Mixture
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n.s.
Vanillin
Phenethyl alcohol
n.s.
p.016
(p.09)
P300 for Exact Solutions
Mixture
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Conclusions
A mixture of two odors but not the odors
individually - changed how the brain accomplished
a task known to use resources in the left
temporal lobe. It had no effects on
a complementary task that uses a more bilateral
set of resources. The outcome is consistent with
the hypothesis that odor mixtures require neural
resources used for symbolic processing.
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Direct Manipulation of odor formants
with Rigdon
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Fast Transition
Citral
PEA
Vanillin
Slow Transition
600 msec
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Odor stimulation during inhalation
Slow
Fast
Respiration wave
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LORETA - Key Institute
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Conclusions - Really

• Theres a good chance that overlapping odors do
  use neural resources normally associated with
  language.

So what
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