Introduction

Stimuli of different modalities can acquire an affective value via evaluative conditioning. This process describes a shift in perceived affective quality of a neutral stimulus towards the hedonics of an associated affective stimulus. The olfactory system, as compared to other modalities, might be especially prone to attributing affective value to an odor due to its close neuroanatomical connectivity with brain regions processing emotion.

Methods

In the present study, we investigated whether perceived affective quality of odors is more sensitive to evaluative conditioning than that of sounds. For this purpose, 48 healthy participants (50% male) rated unfamiliar and emotionally neutral odors and sounds before and after pairing with either aversive or neutral pictures.

Results

Our results show a stronger decrease in odor valence and stronger increases in arousal and dominance ratings for odors paired with aversive compared to neutral pictures. For sounds, ratings of valence, arousal, and dominance were independent of picture emotionality.

Conclusion

Odors appear to be more sensitive to evaluative conditioning than sounds. Our findings extend existing modality comparisons mainly focusing on characteristics of odor-associated memories by specifically looking at affective quality of the odor itself in associative learning.

Implications

Perceived affective quality of a stimulus goes along with the tendency to approach or avoid this stimulus. For odors, it is especially prone to change into an aversive direction. This may have implications for food and fragrance choices but also for the understanding of clinical conditions in which odors become highly aversive, such as post-traumatic stress disorder.

中文翻译：

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气味比声音更敏感于评估条件

介绍

不同方式的刺激可以通过评估条件获得情感价值。此过程描述了中性刺激的感知情感质量向相关情感刺激的享乐主义的转变。与其他方式相比，嗅觉系统可能特别容易将情感价值归因于气味，因为它与处理情感的大脑区域具有紧密的神经解剖学联系。

方法

在本研究中，我们调查了感知到的气味情感质量是否比声音对评估条件更为敏感。为此，有48位健康参与者（男性占50％）在与厌恶或中性图片配对之前和之后对不熟悉和情绪中性的气味和声音进行了评级。

结果

我们的研究结果表明，与中性图片相比，与厌恶配对的气味的气味有效价降低更强，唤醒和显性等级的提升更强。对于声音，价位，唤醒和主导地位与图片情感无关。

结论

气味似乎比声音对评估条件更为敏感。我们的发现扩展了现有的模态比较，主要通过在关联学习中特别关注气味本身的情感质量来关注与气味相关的记忆的特征。

含义

刺激的感知情感质量与接近或避免这种刺激的趋势一致。对于异味，特别容易转变为反感的方向。这可能对食物和香料的选择有影响，但也对理解气味会引起厌恶的临床状况（如创伤后应激障碍）产生影响。