Perceptual blending in odor mixtures depends on the nature of odorants and human olfactory expertise.

International audience; Our olfactory system is confronted with complex mixtures of odorants, often recognized as single entities due to odor blending (e.g., coffee). In contrast, we are also able to discriminate odors from complex mixtures (e.g., off-odors). Therefore, the olfactory system is able to engage either configural or elemental processes when confronted with mixtures. However, the rules that govern the involvement of these processes during odor perception remain poorly understood. In our first experiment, we examined whether simple odorant mixtures (binary/ternary) could elicit configural perception. Twenty untrained subjects were asked to evaluate the odor typicality of mixtures…

Sensory analysis and olfactory perception : some sources of variation

International audience

Influence du contexte semantique sur la performance d'identification d'odeurs

National audience

Des représentations olfactives du stimulus chimique

Development of the ETOC : a European test of olfactory capabilities

A number of smell tests designed to evaluate human olfactory capabilities have been published, but none have been validated cross-culturally. The aim of this study was therefore to develop a reliable and quick olfactory test that could be used to evaluate efficiently the olfactory abilities of a European population. This test, named ETOC and based on a combination of a supra-threshold detection task and an identification task, was designed to be a cross-cultural tool that would measure the decline in olfactory performance with ageing. Two versions of the ETOC, one easy and one less easy, were used to test the olfactory performance of European citizens in three countries (France, Sweden and …

Peripheral olfactory function in rats after chemotherapeutic treatment with the anticancer drug docetaxel

International audience; Clinical studies have documented that chemotherapeutic cancer treatment in humans is often associated with weight loss and decreased enjoyment of food. Beside taste, olfaction plays a role in the food intake regulation. We assessed whether hemotherapeutic cancer treatment compromises olfactory function in rats treated with docetaxel (Taxotere, TAX), an antineoplastic drug which disrupts the structures necessary for cell survival and division. Electroolfactogram responses (EOG) can indicate morpho-pathological changes in olfactory epithelium. Male rats received either a single, two or three intravenous injections (one per week) of an estimated 10% lethal dose (LD10) o…