Sensation and Perception of Flavor
STUDIES
Olfactory Cue Reactivity in Nicotine-Dependent Adult Smokers
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Prior research has centered on visual smoking cues, but these researchers were interested in olfactory triggers. Participants in this study consisted of 26 adults who were nicotine-dependent smokers. They were exposed to 7 different odors while their heart rate, skin conductance, and subjective cravings were measured. The cues making up the 7 different odors were: 2 cigarette odors, 2 smoking-related odors, 2 unrelated smoking odors, and 1 odorless control substance. When comparing subjective cravings between the cigarette odors and the control group they found a significance difference; the difference being that cravings were higher when presented with the cigarette odors. The results suggest that cigarette odors are more effective olfactory cues that heighten subjective craving and skin conductance in nicotine-dependent smokers.
The Sense of Smell - Video
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The video discusses the human sense of smell. It is a professor by the name of Ray Cinti teaching and lasts about 16 minutes.
The effects of olfactory stimulation and gender differences on pain responses in full-term infants
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Studies completed before this one have conflicted findings on whether smells can reduce distress in painful procedures on infants. This study focused on vanilla scents’ impact on infants’ responses to a painful procedure called toe lance (including gender differences). Participants in this study consisted of 69 full term infants (34 girls and 35 boys). Researchers collected data at three different times: baseline, during toe lance, and recovery; all while under vanilla exposure or odorless water. The results were that pain responses increased during the procedure significantly, but then decreased during recovery; however, the vanilla had no impact on pain levels.
Taste sensation following cochlear implantation surgery
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Cochlear implantation has been known to cause damage to the chorda tympani nerve (CTN). This study aimed to provoke the risk of taste disorders after a cochlear implantation surgery. Participants included 26 cochlear implantation patients. They took a taste test before, 3 days after, and 6 weeks after the implantation. Results showed that 19.2% of patients experience postoperative taste dysfunction. 16 % who had their CTN preserved during the operation reported a postoperative taste dysfunction as well. At the 6 week mark, 100% of patients recovered. Based on these results, cochlear implantation only has a minor risk of causing taste dysfunction.
Temporal Coding of Sensation: Mimicking Taste Quality With Electrical Stimulation of the Brain
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These researchers conducted two experiments that indicated a temporal pattern of responses to taste in the brain can reveal important information. In the first experiment, rat subjects avoided lick-contingent stimulation in the solitary tract if the temporal pattern mimicked the electrophysiological response to quinine, but not if the temporal pattern was random. In the second experiment, rat subjects avoided lick-contingent electrical stimulation of the NTS if it mimicked the temporal pattern of a response to sucrose after a pairing of illness and stimulation.
Taste Sensation Lecture - Video
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This video is about the physiology of the taste sensation. It is about 15 minutes long and is informative and keeps your attention.
Taste vs. Smell Psych Experiment - Video
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Some psychology students conducted an experiment on taste versus smell. This is the video they made regarding their study. It only lasts about 10 minutes.
Flavour, Taste and Smell
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Louise Richardson believed that psychology and other sciences tell us about our senses and show us that flavors are perceived partially with smell. He argues that other scientific findings do not prove that people are wrong to believe that flavors are just tasted as well. He discusses how non-naturalism is a view that should not be dismissed regarding flavor, taste, and smell.
Olfaction
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Gustation
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Flavor Research
Mini Studies
William Cain Study
In 1977, William Cain measured the difference threshold by placing two odors of different concentrations on absorbent cotton balls. He asked participants to pick which one was more intense. The average difference threshold was 19%. Unfortunately, when Cain examined the stimuli on the cotton balls he noticed that the concentrations varied when they were supposed to be the same. To deal with this, Cain used a device called an olfactometer, which presents olfactory stimuli with much greater precision than cotton balls, to re-measure the difference threshold. By using this device, he found that the threshold difference was actually 11%.
Distributed Coding Study
Robert Erickson conducted a study in 1963 that demonstrated the distributed coding by presenting rat’s tongues with many different taste stimuli. He recorded the response of the chorda tympani nerve. Erickson called these patterns the across-fiber patterns, or distributed coding. He decided that if the rat’s perception of the quality of the taste depends on the pattern, then two similar patterned substances should contain similar tastes. In fact, he found these results to be true when tested in humans as well.
Specificity Coding Study
Ken Mueller conducted several experiments in 2005 on PTC which is bitter to humans but not to mice. Mueller desired to see the results of a genetic cloning technique where mice contained this bitter PTC receptor. He found that mice with this receptor choose to avoid large PTC concentrations.
¡Attention! All mini studies came from Goldstein’s Sensation and Perception book.