1
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Harada Y, Maeda S, Shen J, Misonou T, Hori H, Nakamura S. Regression Study of Odorant Chemical Space, Molecular Structural Diversity, and Natural Language Description. ACS OMEGA 2024; 9:25054-25062. [PMID: 38882175 PMCID: PMC11170723 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.4c02268] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2024] [Revised: 05/15/2024] [Accepted: 05/24/2024] [Indexed: 06/18/2024]
Abstract
Odor is analyzed on the human olfactometry systems in various steps. The mapping from chemical structures to olfactory perceptions of smell is an extremely challenging task. Scientists have been unable to find a measure to distinguish the perceptual similarity between odorants. In this study, we report regression analysis and visualization based on the odorant chemical space. We discuss the relation between the odor descriptors and their structural diversity for odorants groups associated with each odor descriptor. We studied the influence of structural diversity on the odor descriptor predictability. The results suggest that the diversity of molecular structures, which is associated with the same odor descriptor, is related to the resolutional confusion with the odor descriptor.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuki Harada
- Priority Organization for Innovation and Excellence Laboratory for Data Sciences, Kumamoto University, 2-39-1, Kurokami, Chuo-ku, Kumamoto 860-8555, Japan
| | - Shuichi Maeda
- Priority Organization for Innovation and Excellence Laboratory for Data Sciences, Kumamoto University, 2-39-1, Kurokami, Chuo-ku, Kumamoto 860-8555, Japan
| | - Junwei Shen
- Priority Organization for Innovation and Excellence Laboratory for Data Sciences, Kumamoto University, 2-39-1, Kurokami, Chuo-ku, Kumamoto 860-8555, Japan
| | - Taku Misonou
- Emeritus Professors of University of Yamanashi, Takeda 4-4-37, Kofu 400-8510, Japan
| | - Hirokazu Hori
- Emeritus Professors of University of Yamanashi, Takeda 4-4-37, Kofu 400-8510, Japan
| | - Shinichiro Nakamura
- Priority Organization for Innovation and Excellence Laboratory for Data Sciences, Kumamoto University, 2-39-1, Kurokami, Chuo-ku, Kumamoto 860-8555, Japan
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2
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Croijmans I, Pellegrino R, Janice Wang Q. Demystifying wine expertise through the lens of imagination: Descriptions and imagery vividness across sensory modalities. Food Res Int 2024; 182:114159. [PMID: 38519163 DOI: 10.1016/j.foodres.2024.114159] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2023] [Revised: 02/09/2024] [Accepted: 02/17/2024] [Indexed: 03/24/2024]
Abstract
For most untrained novices, talking about wine or imagining the smells and flavours of wine is difficult. Wine experts, on the other hand, have been found to have better imagery for wine, and are also more proficient in describing wine. Some scholars have suggested that imagery and language are based on similar underlying processes, but no conclusive evidence has been found regarding mental imagery and language production. In this study, we examined the relationship between imagery and language use in both novices and experts. In an online experiment, wine experts and novices were asked to imagine the colour, smell, taste and mouthfeel of wines in different situations, and were asked to rate the vividness of the imagined experience as well as describe it with words. The results show that experts differ from novices on a number of linguistic measures when describing wine, including the number of words used, the type of words used, the concreteness of those words, and the adjective to noun ratio. Similarly, imagery for wine was more vivid in wine experts compared to novices in the modalities of smell, taste, and mouthfeel, in alignment with previous work. Surprisingly, we found that no single linguistic variable significantly predicted the reported vividness of wine imagery, neither in experts nor in novices. However, the linguistic model predicted imagery vividness better using data from experts compared to novices. Taken together, these findings underscore that imagery and language are different facets of wine cognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ilja Croijmans
- Centre for Language Studies, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
| | | | - Qian Janice Wang
- Department of Food Science, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
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3
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Chen L. Synesthetic Correspondence: An Overview. ADVANCES IN EXPERIMENTAL MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY 2024; 1437:101-119. [PMID: 38270856 DOI: 10.1007/978-981-99-7611-9_7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/26/2024]
Abstract
Intramodal and cross-modal perceptual grouping based on the spatial proximity and temporal closeness between multiple sensory stimuli, as an operational principle has built a coherent and meaningful representation of the multisensory event/object. To implement and investigate the cross-modal perceptual grouping, researchers have employed excellent paradigms of spatial/temporal ventriloquism and cross-modal dynamic capture and have revealed the conditional constraints as well as the functional facilitations among various correspondence of sensory properties, with featured behavioral evidence, computational framework as well as brain oscillation patterns. Typically, synesthetic correspondence as a special type of cross-modal correspondence can shape the efficiency and effect-size of cross-modal interaction. For example, factors such as pitch/loudness in the auditory dimension with size/brightness in the visual dimension could modulate the strength of the cross-modal temporal capture. The empirical behavioral findings, as well as psychophysical and neurophysiological evidence to address the cross-modal perceptual grouping and synesthetic correspondence, were summarized in this review. Finally, the potential applications (such as artificial synesthesia device) and how synesthetic correspondence interface with semantics (sensory linguistics), as well as the promising research questions in this field have been discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lihan Chen
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China.
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China.
- Key Laboratory of Machine Perception (Ministry of Education), Peking University, Beijing, China.
- National Key Laboratory of General Artificial Intelligence, Peking University, Beijing, China.
- National Engineering Laboratory for Big Data Analysis and Applications, Peking University, Beijing, China.
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4
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Faraco Filho RL, Oliveira Barino F, Calderano J, Valle Alvarenga ÍF, Campos D, Dos Santos AB. In-fiber Mach-Zehnder interferometer as a promising tool for optical nose and odor prediction during the fermentation process. OPTICS LETTERS 2023; 48:3905-3908. [PMID: 37527079 DOI: 10.1364/ol.486742] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2023] [Accepted: 03/21/2023] [Indexed: 08/03/2023]
Abstract
In this paper, we present an in-fiber Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) applied to coffee bean fermentation monitoring. Two MZIs, based on a combination of a fiber taper cascaded by a micro-tapered long-period fiber grating, were installed in a fermentation barrel to monitor the liquids and gases released during the fermentation process. During this process, a variety of odors arise due to the yeast activity and their classification is important to decide when to stop the fermentation process. In this work, we show that the in-fiber MZIs are good candidates for optical noses in this scenario.
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5
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Hörberg T, Sekine R, Overbeck C, Hummel T, Olofsson JK. A parosmia severity index based on word-classification predicts olfactory abilities and impairment. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 2023; 280:3695-3706. [PMID: 36906652 PMCID: PMC10008075 DOI: 10.1007/s00405-023-07893-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2022] [Accepted: 02/18/2023] [Indexed: 03/13/2023]
Abstract
Parosmia is an olfactory disorder that involves distortions of specific odors that may co-occur with anosmia, loss of smell of other odors. Little is known about which odors frequently trigger parosmia, and measures of parosmia severity are lacking. Here, we present an approach to understand and diagnose parosmia that is based on semantic properties (e.g., valence) of words describing odor sources ("fish", "coffee", etc.). Using a data-driven method based on natural language data, we identified 38 odor descriptors. Descriptors were evenly dispersed across an olfactory-semantic space, which was based on key odor dimensions. Parosmia patients (n = 48) classified the corresponding odors in terms of whether they trigger parosmic or anosmic sensations. We investigated whether these classifications are related to semantic properties of the descriptors. Parosmic sensations were most often reported for words describing unpleasant odors of inedibles that are highly associated to olfaction (e.g., "excrement"). Based on PCA modeling, we derived the Parosmia Severity Index-a measure of parosmia severity that can be determined solely from our non-olfactory behavioral task. This index predicts olfactory-perceptual abilities, self-reported olfactory impairment, and depression. We thus provide a novel approach for investigating parosmia and establishing its severity that does not require odor exposure. Our work may enhance our understanding of how parosmia changes over time and how it is expressed differently across individuals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Hörberg
- Department of Psychology, Stockholm University, Albanovägen 12, 114 19 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Rumi Sekine
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Smell and Taste Clinic, TU Dresden, Germany
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Jikei School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Clara Overbeck
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Smell and Taste Clinic, TU Dresden, Germany
| | - Thomas Hummel
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Smell and Taste Clinic, TU Dresden, Germany
| | - Jonas K. Olofsson
- Department of Psychology, Stockholm University, Albanovägen 12, 114 19 Stockholm, Sweden
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6
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Schicker D, Singh S, Freiherr J, Grasskamp AT. OWSum: algorithmic odor prediction and insight into structure-odor relationships. J Cheminform 2023; 15:51. [PMID: 37150811 PMCID: PMC10164323 DOI: 10.1186/s13321-023-00722-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2022] [Accepted: 04/16/2023] [Indexed: 05/09/2023] Open
Abstract
We derived and implemented a linear classification algorithm for the prediction of a molecule's odor, called Olfactory Weighted Sum (OWSum). Our approach relies solely on structural patterns of the molecules as features for algorithmic treatment and uses conditional probabilities combined with tf-idf values. In addition to the prediction of molecular odor, OWSum provides insights into properties of the dataset and allows to understand how algorithmic classifications are reached by quantitatively assigning structural patterns to odors. This provides chemists with an intuitive understanding of underlying interactions. To deal with ambiguities of the natural language used to describe odor, we introduced descriptor overlap as a metric for the quantification of semantic overlap between descriptors. Thus, grouping of descriptors and derivation of higher-level descriptors becomes possible. Our approach poses a large leap forward in our capabilities to understand and predict molecular features.
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Affiliation(s)
- Doris Schicker
- Sensory Analytics and Technologies, Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV, Giggenhauser Straße 35, 85354, Freising, Germany.
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Schwabachanlage 6, 91054, Erlangen, Germany.
| | - Satnam Singh
- Sensory Analytics and Technologies, Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV, Giggenhauser Straße 35, 85354, Freising, Germany
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Schwabachanlage 6, 91054, Erlangen, Germany
| | - Jessica Freiherr
- Sensory Analytics and Technologies, Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV, Giggenhauser Straße 35, 85354, Freising, Germany
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Schwabachanlage 6, 91054, Erlangen, Germany
| | - Andreas T Grasskamp
- Sensory Analytics and Technologies, Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV, Giggenhauser Straße 35, 85354, Freising, Germany.
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7
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Raj R, Hörberg T, Lindroos R, Larsson M, Herman P, Laukka EJ, Olofsson JK. Odor identification errors reveal cognitive aspects of age-associated smell loss. Cognition 2023; 236:105445. [PMID: 37027897 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2023.105445] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2022] [Revised: 03/09/2023] [Accepted: 03/14/2023] [Indexed: 04/09/2023]
Abstract
Human olfaction can be extraordinarily sensitive, and its most common assessment method is odor identification (OID), where everyday odors are matched to word labels in a multiple-choice format. However, many older persons are unable to identify familiar odors, a deficit that is associated with the risk of future dementia and mortality. The underlying processes subserving OID in older adults are poorly understood. Here, we analyzed error patterns in OID to test whether errors could be explained by perceptual and/or semantic similarities among the response alternatives. We investigated the OID response patterns in a large, population-based sample of older adults in Sweden (n = 2479; age 60-100 years). Olfaction was assessed by a 'Sniffin ́ TOM OID test with 16 odors; each trial involved matching a target odor to a correct label among three distractors. We analyzed the pattern of misidentifications, and the results showed that some distractors were more frequently selected than others, suggesting cognitive or perceptual factors may be present. Relatedly, we conducted a large online survey of older adults (n = 959, age 60-90 years) who were asked to imagine and rate the perceptual similarity of the target odors and the three corresponding distractors (e.g. "How similar are these smells: apple and mint?"). We then used data from the Swedish web corpus and the Word2Vec neural network algorithm to quantify the semantic association strength between the labels of each target odor and its three distractors. These data sources were used to predict odor identification errors. We found that the error patterns were partly explained by both the semantic similarity between target-distractor pairs, and the imagined perceptual similarity of the target-distractor pair. Both factors had, however, a diminished prediction in older ages, as responses became gradually less systematic. In sum, our results suggest that OID tests not only reflect olfactory perception, but also likely involve the mental processing of odor-semantic associations. This may be the reason why these tests are useful in predicting dementia onset. Our insights into olfactory-language interactions could be harnessed to develop new olfactory tests that are tailored for specific clinical purposes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rohan Raj
- Gösta Ekman Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.
| | - Thomas Hörberg
- Gösta Ekman Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.
| | - Robert Lindroos
- Gösta Ekman Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.
| | - Maria Larsson
- Gösta Ekman Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.
| | - Pawel Herman
- Computational Brain Science Lab, Division of Computational Science and Technology, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden.
| | - Erika J Laukka
- Aging Research Center, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet-Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden; Stockholm Gerontology Research Center, Stockholm, Sweden.
| | - Jonas K Olofsson
- Gösta Ekman Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.
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8
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Deroy O. Olfactory abstraction: a communicative and metacognitive account. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2023; 378:20210369. [PMID: 36571118 PMCID: PMC9791486 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2021.0369] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2021] [Accepted: 08/05/2022] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
The usual puzzle raised about olfaction is that of a deficit of abstraction: smells, by contrast notably with colours, do not easily lend themselves to abstract categories and labels. Some studies have argued that the puzzle is culturally restricted and that abstraction is more common outside urban Western societies. Here, I argue that the puzzle is misconstrued and should be reversed: given that odours are constantly changing and that their commonalities are difficult for humans to identify, what is surprising is not that abstract terms are rare, but that they should be used at all for olfaction. Given the nature of the olfactory environment and our cognitive equipment, concrete labels referring to sources seem most adaptive. To explain the use and presence of abstract terms, we need to examine their social and communicative benefits. Here these benefits are spelt out as securing a higher agreement among individuals varying in their olfactory experiences as well as the labels they use, as well as feeling a heightened sense of confidence in one's naming capacities. This article is part of the theme issue 'Concepts in interaction: social engagement and inner experiences'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ophelia Deroy
- Faculty of Philosophy, Ludwig Maximilian University, D-80539 Munich, Germany
- Munich Center for Neuroscience, Ludwig Maximilian University, D-80539 Munich, Germany
- Institute of Philosophy, School of Advanced Study, University of London, London EC1E 7HU, UK
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9
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Hörberg T, Larsson M, Olofsson JK. The Semantic Organization of the English Odor Vocabulary. Cogn Sci 2022; 46:e13205. [PMID: 36334010 DOI: 10.1111/cogs.13205] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2022] [Revised: 09/06/2022] [Accepted: 09/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
The vocabulary for describing odors in English natural language is not well understood, as prior studies of odor descriptions have often relied on preselected descriptors and odor ratings. Here, we present a data-driven approach that automatically identifies English odor descriptors based on their degree of olfactory association, and derive their semantic organization from their distributions in natural texts, using a distributional-semantic language model. We identify 243 descriptors that are much more strongly associated with olfaction than English words in general. We then derive the semantic organization of these olfactory descriptors, and find that it is captured by four clusters that we name Offensive, Malodorous, Fragrant, and Edible. The semantic space derived from our model primarily differentiates descriptors in terms of pleasantness and edibility along which our four clusters are positioned, and is similar to a space derived from perceptual data. The semantic organization of odor vocabulary can thus be mapped using natural language data (e.g., online text), without the limitations of odor-perceptual data and preselected descriptors. Our method may thus facilitate research on olfaction, a sensory system known to often elude verbal description.
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10
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Silva SRG, Azevedo PVM, Santos Júnior CJD, Costa JGD, Pavão JMSJ, Santos AFD, Ferreira-Júnior GC, Souza MA, Cavalcanti MGDS, Pereira MEO, Souza EC, Costa GA, Marinho CRM, Ilha AOG, Pinto RS, Matos-Rocha TJ. Environmental characteristics, nutritional and executive functions in children of 6 to 7 years. BRAZ J BIOL 2021; 83:e248778. [PMID: 34669798 DOI: 10.1590/1519-6984.248778] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2020] [Accepted: 04/29/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
This study aimed to analyze the socio-environmental characteristics, executive and nutritional functions in children aged 6 to 7 years, from public schools in Alagoas, Brazil. A quantitative, cross-sectional and descriptive study was performed involving 64 children of the mentioned age group, from public schools located in Alagoas: Maceió, on the coast; Major Isidoro, in the hinterland and Palmeira dos Índios, in the country. Such analyzes were made through the application of neuropsychological tests and anthropometric assessment with children and food and socio-environmental surveys with their parents. As for the type of housing, 100% were made of masonry, with a bathroom present in 98.4%. All children reported with the habit of bathing in the river / lagoon, presented some pathology. There was no significant difference between cities in terms of the sociodemographic characteristics evaluated, with the same result occurring with the factors associated with the occurrence of diseases in children. The subtests of WISC-IV, were below the average in all municipalities, and the TAC and SCC were classified within the average. However, even though the ranking were divided between below average and average, it is possible to identify from the subtests of WISC-IV, that the general IQ showed a cognitive level below the average. There was also no significant difference in the anthropometric assessment (weight, height, BMI and IMCI) between the evaluated students. The average weight was 23.3 kg to 25 kg, the height between 1.23 m to 1.24 m, the BMI between 16.4 to 17; the IMCI from 2.8 to 3.0. Children were classified within the average. Regarding micronutrients (Ca, Fe, K, Mg and Na, and vitamins A, C, D, B1, B9 and B12) and calories, there was also no significant difference between the cities evaluated. The same occurred with macronutrients (proteins, carbohydrates and lipids). This study showed that in general there was no difference between the students of the three municipalities. Probably, even though they are all public schools and from different cities, children have similar social conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- S R G Silva
- Centro Universitário CESMAC, Maceió, AL, Brasil
| | | | | | | | | | - A F Dos Santos
- Centro Universitário CESMAC, Maceió, AL, Brasil.,Universidade Estadual de Alagoas - UNEAL, Arapiraca, AL, Brasil
| | - G C Ferreira-Júnior
- Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Acre - IFAC, Xapuri, AC, Brasil
| | - M A Souza
- Centro Universitário CESMAC, Maceió, AL, Brasil
| | | | | | - E C Souza
- Centro Universitário CESMAC, Maceió, AL, Brasil
| | - G A Costa
- Centro Universitário CESMAC, Maceió, AL, Brasil
| | | | - A O G Ilha
- Universidade de São Paulo - USP, Faculdade de Medicina, Hospital das Clínicas - HCFMUSP, Laboratório de Lipides - LIM10, São Paulo, SP, Brasil
| | - R S Pinto
- Centro Universitário CESMAC, Maceió, AL, Brasil
| | - T J Matos-Rocha
- Centro Universitário CESMAC, Maceió, AL, Brasil.,Universidade Estadual de Ciências da Saúde de Alagoas - UNCISAL, Maceió, AL, Brasil
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11
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Uchida M, Pathak A, Motoki K. Smelling speech sounds: Association of odors with texture‐related ideophones. J SENS STUD 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/joss.12691] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Marin Uchida
- Department of Food Science and Business Miyagi University Sendai Japan
| | | | - Kosuke Motoki
- Department of Food Science and Business Miyagi University Sendai Japan
- Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University Sendai Japan
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12
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Pellegrino R, Hörberg T, Olofsson J, Luckett CR. Duality of Smell: Route-Dependent Effects on Olfactory Perception and Language. Chem Senses 2021; 46:6278057. [PMID: 34007980 DOI: 10.1093/chemse/bjab025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Olfactory research in humans has largely focused on odors perceived via sniffing, orthonasal olfaction, whereas odors perceived from the mouth, retronasal olfaction, are less well understood. Prior work on retronasally presented odors involves animal models and focus mainly on odor sensitivity, but little is known about retronasal olfactory perception and cognition in humans. In this study, we compared orthonasal and retronasal odor presentation routes to investigate differences in odor descriptions and evaluations. Thirty-six individuals participated in a within-subjects study using twelve odors (varying in pleasantness and edibility) in perceptual and semantic tasks. Orthonasal presentation was associated with a better ability to identify odors, and with more concrete (and source-based) language. Exploratory analyses revealed that whereas orthonasal odors were described with words that had visual associations, retronasal odors were described with words that had interoceptive associations. Interestingly, these route-dependent differences in descriptor usage were not explained by differences in sensitivity and intensity, suggesting instead a cognitive and linguistic processing difference between odors presented orthonasally and retronasally. Our results indicate that olfaction is, in fact, a dual sense, in which the routes change the perception of an odor.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert Pellegrino
- Department of Food Science, University of Tennessee, 2510 River Drive, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
| | - Thomas Hörberg
- Gösta Ekman Laboratory, Department of Psychology Stockholm University, Frescati hagväg 9, Stockholm, Sweden.,Department of Linguistics, Stockholm University, Universitetsvägen 10C, 114 18 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Jonas Olofsson
- Gösta Ekman Laboratory, Department of Psychology Stockholm University, Frescati hagväg 9, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Curtis R Luckett
- Department of Food Science, University of Tennessee, 2510 River Drive, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
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13
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Majid A. Human Olfaction at the Intersection of Language, Culture, and Biology. Trends Cogn Sci 2020; 25:111-123. [PMID: 33349546 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2020.11.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2020] [Revised: 11/14/2020] [Accepted: 11/17/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
The human sense of smell can accomplish astonishing feats, yet there remains a prevailing belief that olfactory language is deficient. Numerous studies with English speakers support this view: there are few terms for odors, odor talk is infrequent, and naming odors is difficult. However, this is not true across the world. Many languages have sizeable smell lexicons - smell is even grammaticalized. In addition, for some cultures smell talk is more frequent and odor naming easier. This linguistic variation is as yet unexplained but could be the result of ecological, cultural, or genetic factors or a combination thereof. Different ways of talking about smells may shape aspects of olfactory cognition too. Critically, this variation sheds new light on this important sensory modality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Asifa Majid
- Department of Psychology, University of York, Heslington, York, UK.
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14
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Pellegrino R, Luckett CR. Aversive textures and their role in food rejection. J Texture Stud 2020; 51:733-741. [PMID: 32533706 DOI: 10.1111/jtxs.12543] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2020] [Revised: 04/24/2020] [Accepted: 06/09/2020] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Texture is a prominent feature in foods and consequently can be the reason a food is accepted or rejected. However, other sensory attributes, such as flavor/taste, aroma, sound, and appearance may also lead to the rejection of food and motivations other than unpleasantness exist in unacceptance. To date, these motivations for food rejection have been studied in isolation and their relationships with psychological factors have not been tested. This study measured reasons people reject a food and probed into the specifics of texture rejection. A large U.S. sample (N = 473) was asked to rate their motivations for rejecting a food, list foods that were disliked due to unpleasant sensory attributes, specify the unpleasant sensory attribute(s), and complete an assessment of general touch sensitivity. Results showed 94% of individuals reject a food due to its texture, a rate comparable to flavor-based rejection. Looking at the number of foods being rejected, flavor was the most common food attribute, followed by texture and then aroma. From a linguistic standpoint, aversive textures encompass a large vocabulary, larger than liked textures, and the same food may be rejected due to a single or combination of texture terms. Viscosity (e.g., slimy) and hardness (e.g., mushy) are the most common aversive texture types, but through cluster analysis subsets of individuals were identified that are more aversive to other textures. This study emphasizes the role of aversive textures in food rejection and provides many avenues for future investigations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert Pellegrino
- Department of Food Science, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
| | - Curtis R Luckett
- Department of Food Science, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
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15
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16
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Speed LJ, Majid A. Grounding language in the neglected senses of touch, taste, and smell. Cogn Neuropsychol 2019; 37:363-392. [DOI: 10.1080/02643294.2019.1623188] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Laura J. Speed
- Department of Psychology, University of York, York, England
| | - Asifa Majid
- Department of Psychology, University of York, York, England
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Predicting natural language descriptions of mono-molecular odorants. Nat Commun 2018; 9:4979. [PMID: 30478272 PMCID: PMC6255800 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-07439-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2018] [Accepted: 11/03/2018] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
There has been recent progress in predicting whether common verbal descriptors such as “fishy”, “floral” or “fruity” apply to the smell of odorous molecules. However, accurate predictions have been achieved only for a small number of descriptors. Here, we show that applying natural-language semantic representations on a small set of general olfactory perceptual descriptors allows for the accurate inference of perceptual ratings for mono-molecular odorants over a large and potentially arbitrary set of descriptors. This is noteworthy given that the prevailing view is that humans’ capacity to identify or characterize odors by name is poor. We successfully apply our semantics-based approach to predict perceptual ratings with an accuracy higher than 0.5 for up to 70 olfactory perceptual descriptors, a ten-fold increase in the number of descriptors from previous attempts. These results imply that the semantic distance between descriptors defines the equivalent of an odorwheel. It is now possible to predict what a chemical smells like based on its chemical structure, however to date, this has only been done for a small number of odor descriptors. Here, using natural-language semantic representations, the authors demonstrate prediction of a much wider range of descriptors.
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