Bromley S M, Doty R L
Smell and Taste Center, University of Pennsylvania Medical Center, USA.
Cortex. 1995 Mar;31(1):25-40. doi: 10.1016/s0010-9452(13)80103-7.
Two odor memory tests were administered unilaterally (left and right) and bilaterally to the same set of 24 men and 24 women on two test occasions. These tests were (i) a "multiple-target" test (MTT) in which three target stimuli were selected, after 10-, 30-, and 60-sec retention intervals, from stimulus sets containing both target and distracter stimuli, and (ii) a 9-item "single-target" three-choice test (STT), in which single stimuli were selected from stimuli sets containing two distracters. Overall, odor memory scores were higher under bilateral than unilateral testing, and higher on the second than on the first test session. Unilateral testing resulted in a monotonic delay-related forgetting function. No differences were observed in the odor memory test scores of the left and right sides of the nose, and no significant correlations were present between these scores and scores on a battery non-olfactory memory tests. On the STT, the female, but not the male, subjects demonstrated better performance on the second, than on the first, test session. The results of this study imply that odor memory is facilitated centrally by bilateral activation, and that a memory system may exist for odors which is distinct from other memory systems.
在两个测试场合，对24名男性和24名女性组成的同一组人群单侧（左和右）及双侧进行了两项气味记忆测试。这些测试包括：（i）“多目标”测试（MTT），在10秒、30秒和60秒的保留间隔后，从包含目标刺激和干扰刺激的刺激集中选择三个目标刺激；（ii）9项“单目标”三选测试（STT），从包含两个干扰物的刺激集中选择单个刺激。总体而言，双侧测试下的气味记忆分数高于单侧测试，且第二次测试的分数高于第一次测试。单侧测试导致了与延迟相关的单调遗忘函数。在鼻子左右两侧的气味记忆测试分数中未观察到差异，并且这些分数与一系列非嗅觉记忆测试的分数之间不存在显著相关性。在STT中，女性受试者在第二次测试中的表现优于第一次测试，而男性受试者则不然。本研究结果表明，双侧激活在中枢层面促进了气味记忆，并且可能存在一个与其他记忆系统不同的气味记忆系统。
