Li Zhuofeng, Li Shu-Bin, Tan Shaozhen, Liu Lu-Lu, Yan Chao, Zou Lai-Quan
Chemical Senses and Mental Health Lab, Department of Psychology, School of Public Health, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
Chemical Senses and Mental Health Lab, Department of Psychology, School of Public Health, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China; Smell & Taste Clinic, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
Neuroimage. 2025 Feb 1;306:121005. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2025.121005. Epub 2025 Jan 7.
Previous research has revealed that the insula, pallidum, thalamus, hippocampus, middle frontal gyrus, and supplementary motor area are activated during odor memory and that the performance of olfactory working memory is affected by the verbalization of odors. However, the neural mechanisms underlying olfactory working memory and the role of verbalization in olfactory working memory are not fully understood. Twenty-nine participants were enrolled in a study to complete olfactory and visual n-back tasks using high- and low-verbalizability stimuli while undergoing fMRI imaging. The behavioral results showed that the participants achieved greater accuracy in the visual rather than olfactory n-back task. We observed increased activation in the precentral gyrus, superior frontal gyrus, middle frontal gyrus, supplementary motor area, and inferior parietal gyrus during olfactory working memory. Interestingly, decreased activation was observed in the olfactory 2-back task versus the 0-back task. Moreover, the left angular gyrus and inferior parietal gyrus were more strongly activated during processing of olfactory working memory using high-verbalizability odors. In conclusion, olfactory working memory engages cross-modal regions to facilitate responses, is involved in the monitoring and manipulation of information during working memory, and boasts a unique activation pattern that is different from that of visual working memory. Semantic information supports the representation of odor information in the working memory system.
先前的研究表明，脑岛、苍白球、丘脑、海马体、额中回和辅助运动区在气味记忆过程中会被激活，并且嗅觉工作记忆的表现会受到气味语言描述的影响。然而，嗅觉工作记忆背后的神经机制以及语言描述在嗅觉工作记忆中的作用尚未完全明确。29名参与者参与了一项研究，在进行功能磁共振成像（fMRI）时，使用高语言可描述性和低语言可描述性刺激完成嗅觉和视觉n-back任务。行为结果显示，参与者在视觉n-back任务中的准确率高于嗅觉n-back任务。我们观察到，在嗅觉工作记忆过程中，中央前回、额上回、额中回、辅助运动区和顶下小叶的激活增加。有趣的是，与0-back任务相比，在嗅觉2-back任务中观察到激活减少。此外，在使用高语言可描述性气味处理嗅觉工作记忆时，左侧角回和顶下小叶的激活更强。总之，嗅觉工作记忆利用跨模态区域来促进反应，参与工作记忆期间信息的监测和操作，并且拥有与视觉工作记忆不同的独特激活模式。语义信息支持工作记忆系统中气味信息的表征。
