Smell and Taste Clinic, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University of Dresden Medical School, Fetscherstrasse 74, 01307 Dresden, Germany.
Exp Brain Res. 2011 Jul;212(2):305-14. doi: 10.1007/s00221-011-2729-5. Epub 2011 May 21.
Even though we often perceive odors in the presence of various background sounds, surprisingly little is known about the effects of background sound on odor perception. This study aimed to investigate the question whether background sound can modulate performance in an odor discrimination task. In Experiment 1, participants were asked to perform the odor discrimination task while listening to either background noise (e.g., verbal or non-verbal noise) or no additional sound (i.e., silent condition). Participants' performance in the odor discrimination task was significantly deteriorated in the presence of background noise compared with in the silent condition. Rather, the detrimental effect of verbal noise on the task performance was significantly higher than that of non-verbal noise. In Experiment 2, participants were asked to conduct the odor discrimination task while listening to either background music (Mozart's sonata for two pianos in D major, K448) or no additional sound (silent condition). Background music relative to silent condition did not significantly alter the task performance. In conclusion, our findings provide new empirical evidence that background sound modulates the performance in an odor discrimination task.
尽管我们经常在各种背景声音存在的情况下感知气味，但对于背景声音对气味感知的影响却知之甚少。本研究旨在探讨背景声音是否可以调节气味辨别任务的表现。在实验 1 中，要求参与者在听背景噪音（例如言语或非言语噪音）或没有额外声音（即无声条件）的情况下执行气味辨别任务。与无声条件相比，参与者在气味辨别任务中的表现明显变差。相反，言语噪音对任务表现的不利影响明显高于非言语噪音。在实验 2 中，要求参与者在听背景音乐（莫扎特的 D 大调双钢琴奏鸣曲，K448）或没有额外声音（无声条件）的情况下执行气味辨别任务。背景音乐相对于无声条件并没有显著改变任务表现。总之，我们的研究结果提供了新的经验证据，表明背景声音可以调节气味辨别任务的表现。
