Department of Oral Health and Diagnostic Sciences, Division of Periodontology, Center for Chemosensory Sciences, School of Dental Medicine, University of Connecticut Health Center, 263 Farmington Avenue, Farmington, CT 06030-1715, USA.
Chem Senses. 2010 Nov;35(9):777-87. doi: 10.1093/chemse/bjq078. Epub 2010 Aug 18.
Identification of odors of compounds introduced into changeable olfactory environments is the essence of olfactory coding, which focuses perception on the latest stimulus with the greatest salience. Effects of stimulus intensity and adapting time on mixture component identification after adapting with one component were each studied in 10 human subjects. Odors of 1 and 5 mM vanillin (vanilla) and phenethyl alcohol (rose) were identified, with adapting time varied by sniffing naturally once or twice, or sniffing 5 times, once every 2 s. Odors of water-adapted single compounds were identified nearly perfectly (94%), self-adapted to 51% but did not cross-adapt (94%), showing the 2 compounds had quickly adapting independent odors. Identifications of the vanilla and rose odors in water-adapted mixtures were reduced to 59% and 79%, respectively. Following single-component adaptation, the average 33% identification of odors of adapted (ambient) mixture components contrasted with the greater average 86% identification of new unadapted (extra) mixture components. Identifications were lower for 1 than 5 mM components when concentrations were not matched, and ambient component identifications were lower after 10-s adaptation than after 1 or 2 sniffs. Rapid selective adaptation and mixture component suppression manipulate effective intensity to promote emergence of characteristic odor qualities in dynamic natural settings.
在可变化的嗅觉环境中识别化合物的气味是嗅觉编码的本质，它将感知聚焦于最新、最显著的刺激。在 10 名人类受试者中，分别研究了刺激强度和适应时间对单一成分适应后混合物成分识别的影响。识别了 1 和 5 mM 香草醛（香草）和苯乙醇（玫瑰）的气味，适应时间通过自然嗅探一次或两次，或嗅探 5 次，每次 2 秒来改变。水适应的单一化合物的气味几乎被完美地识别（94%），自我适应到 51%，但没有交叉适应（94%），表明这两种化合物具有快速适应的独立气味。水适应混合物中香草和玫瑰气味的识别率分别降低到 59%和 79%。在单一成分适应后，适应（环境）混合物成分的平均 33%的气味识别与新的未适应（额外）混合物成分的平均 86%的识别形成对比。当浓度不匹配时，1 mM 成分的识别率低于 5 mM 成分，并且 10 秒适应后的环境成分识别率低于 1 次或 2 次嗅探后的识别率。快速选择性适应和混合物成分抑制有效地调节强度，以促进动态自然环境中特征气味品质的出现。
