Department of Physiology, Showa University School of Medicine, 1-5-8 Hatanodai, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 142-8555, Japan.
Chem Senses. 2012 May;37(4):379-88. doi: 10.1093/chemse/bjr120. Epub 2012 Jan 9.
An important feature of olfactory perception is its dependence on respiratory activity. By inspiration, olfactory information ascends directly to olfactory-related limbic structures. Therefore, every breath with odor molecules activates these limbic areas associated with emotional experience and memory retrieval. We tested whether odors associated with autobiographical memories can trigger pleasant emotional experiences and whether respiration changes during stimulation with these odors. During presentation of odors related to autobiographical memories and control odors, we measured minute ventilation, tidal volume, respiratory frequency, O2 consumption, and end tidal CO2 concentration. Findings showed that autobiographical memory retrieval was associated with increasing tidal volume and decreasing respiratory frequency more than during presentation of control odors. Subjective feelings such as emotional arousal during retrieval of the memory, arousal level of the memory itself, or pleasantness and familiarity toward the odor evoked by autobiographical memory were more specific emotional responses compared with those related to control odors. In addition, high trait anxiety subjects responded with a stronger feeling of being taken back in time and had high arousal levels with tidal volume increases. We discussed assumptions regarding how deep and slow breathing is related to pleasantness and comfortableness of an autobiographical memory.
嗅觉感知的一个重要特征是其对呼吸活动的依赖性。通过吸气，嗅觉信息直接上升到与嗅觉相关的边缘结构。因此，每一次带有气味分子的呼吸都会激活这些与情感体验和记忆检索相关的边缘区域。我们测试了与自传体记忆相关的气味是否能引发愉悦的情绪体验，以及在这些气味刺激下呼吸是否会发生变化。在呈现与自传体记忆相关的气味和对照气味时，我们测量了分钟通气量、潮气量、呼吸频率、O2 消耗和呼气末 CO2 浓度。研究结果表明，与呈现对照气味相比，自传体记忆检索时潮气量增加，呼吸频率降低。与对照气味相比，记忆检索时的主观感受（如情绪唤醒）、记忆本身的唤醒水平，以及自传体记忆引起的气味的愉悦感和熟悉感是更具体的情绪反应。此外，高特质焦虑受试者表现出更强的时间回溯感，并且随着潮气量的增加，唤醒水平也很高。我们讨论了深呼吸与自传体记忆的愉悦和舒适感之间的关系。
