The perception of odor objects in everyday life: a review on the processing of odor mixtures

Smelling monomolecular odors hardly ever occurs in everyday life, and the daily functioning of the sense of smell relies primarily on the processing of complex mixtures of volatiles that are present in the environment (e.g., emanating from food or conspecifics). Such processing allows for the instan...

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Main Authors: Thierry eThomas-Danguin, Charlotte eSinding, Sébastien eRomagny, Fouzia eEl Mountassir, Boriana eAtanasova, Elodie eLe Berre, Anne-Marie eLe Bon, Gerard eCoureaud
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2014-06-01
Series:Frontiers in Psychology
Subjects:
Online Access:http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00504/full
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spelling doaj-b78e79ab88754796a8ed105e1082cf502020-11-24T20:44:03ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782014-06-01510.3389/fpsyg.2014.0050486370The perception of odor objects in everyday life: a review on the processing of odor mixturesThierry eThomas-Danguin0Charlotte eSinding1Sébastien eRomagny2Fouzia eEl Mountassir3Boriana eAtanasova4Elodie eLe Berre5Anne-Marie eLe Bon6Gerard eCoureaud7CNRS UMR6265, INRA UMR1324, Université de BourgogneTU DresdenCNRS UMR6265, INRA UMR1324, Université de BourgogneCNRS UMR6265, INRA UMR1324, Université de BourgogneUniversité François RabelaisUnilever R&DCNRS UMR6265, INRA UMR1324, Université de BourgogneCNRS UMR6265, INRA UMR1324, Université de BourgogneSmelling monomolecular odors hardly ever occurs in everyday life, and the daily functioning of the sense of smell relies primarily on the processing of complex mixtures of volatiles that are present in the environment (e.g., emanating from food or conspecifics). Such processing allows for the instantaneous recognition and categorization of smells and also for the discrimination of odors among others to extract relevant information and to adapt efficiently in different contexts. The neurophysiological mechanisms underpinning this highly efficient analysis of complex mixtures of odorants is beginning to be unraveled and support the idea that olfaction, as vision and audition, relies on odor-objects encoding. This configural processing of odor mixtures, which is empirically subject to important applications in our societies (e.g., the art of perfumers, flavorists, and wine makers), has been scientifically studied only during the last decades. This processing depends on many individual factors, among which are the developmental stage, lifestyle, physiological and mood state, and cognitive skills; this processing also presents striking similarities between species. The present review gathers the recent findings, as observed in animals, healthy subjects, and/or individuals with affective disorders, supporting the perception of complex odor stimuli as odor objects. It also discusses peripheral to central processing, and cognitive and behavioral significance. Finally, this review highlights that the study of odor mixtures is an original window allowing for the investigation of daily olfaction and emphasizes the need for knowledge about the underlying biological processes, which appear to be crucial for our representation and adaptation to the chemical environment.http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00504/fullPerceptioninteractionsanimal behaviorconfiguralodor mixtureelemental
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Thierry eThomas-Danguin
Charlotte eSinding
Sébastien eRomagny
Fouzia eEl Mountassir
Boriana eAtanasova
Elodie eLe Berre
Anne-Marie eLe Bon
Gerard eCoureaud
spellingShingle Thierry eThomas-Danguin
Charlotte eSinding
Sébastien eRomagny
Fouzia eEl Mountassir
Boriana eAtanasova
Elodie eLe Berre
Anne-Marie eLe Bon
Gerard eCoureaud
The perception of odor objects in everyday life: a review on the processing of odor mixtures
Frontiers in Psychology
Perception
interactions
animal behavior
configural
odor mixture
elemental
author_facet Thierry eThomas-Danguin
Charlotte eSinding
Sébastien eRomagny
Fouzia eEl Mountassir
Boriana eAtanasova
Elodie eLe Berre
Anne-Marie eLe Bon
Gerard eCoureaud
author_sort Thierry eThomas-Danguin
title The perception of odor objects in everyday life: a review on the processing of odor mixtures
title_short The perception of odor objects in everyday life: a review on the processing of odor mixtures
title_full The perception of odor objects in everyday life: a review on the processing of odor mixtures
title_fullStr The perception of odor objects in everyday life: a review on the processing of odor mixtures
title_full_unstemmed The perception of odor objects in everyday life: a review on the processing of odor mixtures
title_sort perception of odor objects in everyday life: a review on the processing of odor mixtures
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
series Frontiers in Psychology
issn 1664-1078
publishDate 2014-06-01
description Smelling monomolecular odors hardly ever occurs in everyday life, and the daily functioning of the sense of smell relies primarily on the processing of complex mixtures of volatiles that are present in the environment (e.g., emanating from food or conspecifics). Such processing allows for the instantaneous recognition and categorization of smells and also for the discrimination of odors among others to extract relevant information and to adapt efficiently in different contexts. The neurophysiological mechanisms underpinning this highly efficient analysis of complex mixtures of odorants is beginning to be unraveled and support the idea that olfaction, as vision and audition, relies on odor-objects encoding. This configural processing of odor mixtures, which is empirically subject to important applications in our societies (e.g., the art of perfumers, flavorists, and wine makers), has been scientifically studied only during the last decades. This processing depends on many individual factors, among which are the developmental stage, lifestyle, physiological and mood state, and cognitive skills; this processing also presents striking similarities between species. The present review gathers the recent findings, as observed in animals, healthy subjects, and/or individuals with affective disorders, supporting the perception of complex odor stimuli as odor objects. It also discusses peripheral to central processing, and cognitive and behavioral significance. Finally, this review highlights that the study of odor mixtures is an original window allowing for the investigation of daily olfaction and emphasizes the need for knowledge about the underlying biological processes, which appear to be crucial for our representation and adaptation to the chemical environment.
topic Perception
interactions
animal behavior
configural
odor mixture
elemental
url http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00504/full
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