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...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Yoshiaki Tsushima, Yurie Nishino, Hiroshi Ando
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