Perception of a blending odor mixture: an fMRI study in humans

Supported by grants from the Burgundy Regional council and EU-ERDF, European Dijon-Dresden Laboratory (LEA 549); Odors we perceive from our environment arise from the processing of mixtures of odorants. Some mixtures can lead to configural or elemental perception depending, in part, on experience. However, the neural bases of such influences are still unknown. In the present study, we examined the neurophysiological correlates of the configural and elemental processing of a binary odor mixture (AB). This AB mixture has previously been shown to blend into one percept, but also to produce a more or less configural perception depending on pre-exposure to either the mixture itself or to the sin…