Olfactory Stimulation Modulates Visual Perception Without Training
Considerable research shows that olfactory stimulations affect other modalities in high-level cognitive functions such as emotion. However, little known fact is that olfaction modulates low-level perception of other sensory modalities. Although some studies showed that olfaction had influenced on th...
Main Authors: | , , |
---|---|
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2021-08-01
|
Series: | Frontiers in Neuroscience |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2021.642584/full |
_version_ | 1819137066455269376 |
---|---|
author | Yoshiaki Tsushima Yurie Nishino Hiroshi Ando |
author_facet | Yoshiaki Tsushima Yurie Nishino Hiroshi Ando |
author_sort | Yoshiaki Tsushima |
collection | DOAJ |
description | Considerable research shows that olfactory stimulations affect other modalities in high-level cognitive functions such as emotion. However, little known fact is that olfaction modulates low-level perception of other sensory modalities. Although some studies showed that olfaction had influenced on the other low-level perception, all of them required specific experiences like perceptual training. To test the possibility that olfaction modulates low-level perception without training, we conducted a series of psychophysical and neuroimaging experiments. From the results of a visual task in which participants reported the speed of moving dots, we found that participants perceived the slower motions with a lemon smell and the faster motions with a vanilla smell, without any specific training. In functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies, brain activities in the visual cortices [V1 and human middle temporal area (hMT)] changed based on the type of olfactory stimulation. Our findings provide us with the first direct evidence that olfaction modulates low-level visual perception without training, thereby indicating that olfactory-visual effect is not an acquired behavior but an innate behavior. The present results show us with a new crossmodal effect between olfaction and vision, and bring a unique opportunity to reconsider some fundamental roles of olfactory function. |
first_indexed | 2024-12-22T10:44:58Z |
format | Article |
id | doaj.art-557691a738a54d079e1a293b38628147 |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 1662-453X |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-12-22T10:44:58Z |
publishDate | 2021-08-01 |
publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
record_format | Article |
series | Frontiers in Neuroscience |
spelling | doaj.art-557691a738a54d079e1a293b386281472022-12-21T18:28:57ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Neuroscience1662-453X2021-08-011510.3389/fnins.2021.642584642584Olfactory Stimulation Modulates Visual Perception Without TrainingYoshiaki Tsushima0Yurie Nishino1Hiroshi Ando2National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, Center for Information and Neural Networks, Osaka, JapanNational Institute of Information and Communications Technology, Center for Information and Neural Networks, Osaka, JapanNational Institute of Information and Communications Technology, Universal Communication Research Institute, Kyoto, JapanConsiderable research shows that olfactory stimulations affect other modalities in high-level cognitive functions such as emotion. However, little known fact is that olfaction modulates low-level perception of other sensory modalities. Although some studies showed that olfaction had influenced on the other low-level perception, all of them required specific experiences like perceptual training. To test the possibility that olfaction modulates low-level perception without training, we conducted a series of psychophysical and neuroimaging experiments. From the results of a visual task in which participants reported the speed of moving dots, we found that participants perceived the slower motions with a lemon smell and the faster motions with a vanilla smell, without any specific training. In functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies, brain activities in the visual cortices [V1 and human middle temporal area (hMT)] changed based on the type of olfactory stimulation. Our findings provide us with the first direct evidence that olfaction modulates low-level visual perception without training, thereby indicating that olfactory-visual effect is not an acquired behavior but an innate behavior. The present results show us with a new crossmodal effect between olfaction and vision, and bring a unique opportunity to reconsider some fundamental roles of olfactory function.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2021.642584/fullcrossmodal perceptionolfactionmotion perceptionfMRIpsychophysics |
spellingShingle | Yoshiaki Tsushima Yurie Nishino Hiroshi Ando Olfactory Stimulation Modulates Visual Perception Without Training Frontiers in Neuroscience crossmodal perception olfaction motion perception fMRI psychophysics |
title | Olfactory Stimulation Modulates Visual Perception Without Training |
title_full | Olfactory Stimulation Modulates Visual Perception Without Training |
title_fullStr | Olfactory Stimulation Modulates Visual Perception Without Training |
title_full_unstemmed | Olfactory Stimulation Modulates Visual Perception Without Training |
title_short | Olfactory Stimulation Modulates Visual Perception Without Training |
title_sort | olfactory stimulation modulates visual perception without training |
topic | crossmodal perception olfaction motion perception fMRI psychophysics |
url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2021.642584/full |
work_keys_str_mv | AT yoshiakitsushima olfactorystimulationmodulatesvisualperceptionwithouttraining AT yurienishino olfactorystimulationmodulatesvisualperceptionwithouttraining AT hiroshiando olfactorystimulationmodulatesvisualperceptionwithouttraining |