Introduction

In daily life, people encounter a wide range of odors, most of which contain multiple chemical substances. So-called bimodal odors stimulate both the olfactory and trigeminal nerve, and the interaction between these two systems shapes the perception of the odor. However, temporal encoding of these sensory systems during bimodal odor processing has received limited scientific attention.

Methods

To investigate this, we recorded the electrophysiological response in 17 participants to relatively unimodal olfactory (strawberry), trigeminal (l-isopulegol) and strongly bimodal (strawberry and l-isopulegol) stimuli.

Results

ERP amplitudes and intensity ratings were significantly bigger for bimodal stimulation, as compared to unimodal stimulations. No significant difference was observed between N1 and P2 response latencies to olfactory and bimodal stimuli while responses to both stimuli showed longer latencies compared to the response of the trigeminal stimulus.

Conclusions

Results provide further evidence of interaction between olfactory and trigeminal systems; additional activation of the olfactory system results in more vigorous electrophysiological responses and the experience of higher intensity. In addition, results indicate that the trigeminal system is faster to react to stimulation.

Implications

The current study offers a view on the temporal processing of bimodal odorants that are most likely to be encountered in the environment. We link the more vigorous electrophysiological response to a more complex odorant with activation of different neural structures.

中文翻译：

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人脑中单峰和双峰气味处理过程中的时间编码。

介绍

在日常生活中，人们会遇到各种各样的气味，其中大多数含有多种化学物质。所谓的双峰气味会刺激嗅觉神经和三叉神经，这两个系统之间的相互作用会影响气味的感知。然而，在双峰气味处理过程中这些感觉系统的时间编码受到有限的科学关注。

方法

为了对此进行调查，我们记录了17位参与者对相对单峰嗅觉（草莓），三叉神经（左旋异戊醇）和强烈双峰（草莓和左旋异戊醇）刺激的电生理反应。

结果

与单峰刺激相比，双峰刺激的ERP幅度和强度等级明显更大。N1和P2对嗅觉刺激和双峰刺激的反应潜伏期之间没有观察到显着差异，而与三叉神经刺激的反应相比，对两种刺激的反应均显示出更长的潜伏期。

结论

结果为嗅觉系统和三叉系统之间的相互作用提供了进一步的证据。嗅觉系统的额外激活导致更强烈的电生理反应和更高强度的体验。此外，结果表明三叉神经系统对刺激的反应更快。

含义

当前的研究为环境中最有可能遇到的双峰加味剂的时间处理提供了一种观点。我们将更剧烈的电生理反应与具有不同神经结构激活的更复杂的气味联系在一起。