Quality and intensity of binary odor mixtures

Laing, David G.; Panhuber, H.; Willcox, M. E.; Pittman, Elizabeth

doi:10.1016/0031-9384(84)90118-5

Cited by 171 publications

(140 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…This outcome holds even in models considering dose-addition and not only response-addition [13]. In some cases, a level-dependent effect has been found such that a low level of odor stimulation shows greater additivity than a higher level [13,35]. The present results trace the beginning of the loss of response-additivity to the near-threshold level, specifically as detectability approaches the suprathreshold range.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 61%

Odor detection of single chemicals and binary mixtures

Cometto‐Muñiz

Cain

Abraham

2005

Behavioural Brain Research

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The investigation explored the olfactory detectability of two chemically and structurally similar esters, ethyl propanoate and ethyl heptanoate, presented singly and in mixtures. Initially, we measured concentration-detection (i.e., psychometric) functions for the odor of ethyl propanoate and ethyl heptanoate presented singly. Using this information, we prepared binary mixtures of the two chemicals in varying complementary proportions and, also, selected concentrations of the single compounds, such that, if a rule of response-addition (i.e., independence of detection) were to hold, the stimuli (mixed and single) should approximate equal detection. Next, we measured the actual detectability of these stimuli within the same experiment. The results were analyzed in terms of response-addition (or -additivity) and of dose-addition (oradditivity). The outcome revealed that at low levels of detectability the mixtures approximate response-addition, that is, independence of detection, whereas at high levels of detectability they approximate dose-addition. In the light of previous findings for the olfactory detection of the more dissimilar chemical pairs 1-butanol/2-heptanone and butyl acetate/toluene, we conclude that the described outcome generalizes across a variety of chemical pairs.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 61%

Odor detection of single chemicals and binary mixtures

Cometto‐Muñiz

Cain

Abraham

2005

Behavioural Brain Research

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“…Present Address: RR1 Box 453D, Edgartown, MA in effect, would subtract ambient odor components from a mixture. Odors of ambient stimuli would decrease, exposing characteristic odors of other compounds in a mixture for identification [38].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characteristic component odors emerge from mixtures after selective adaptation

Goyert

Frank

Gent

et al. 2007

Brain Research Bulletin

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Humans cannot reliably identify the distinctive characteristic odors of components in mixtures containing more than three compounds. In the present study we demonstrate that selective adaptation can improve component identification. Characteristic component odors, lost in mixtures, were identifiable after presenting other mixture constituents for a few seconds. In mixtures of vanillin, isopropyl alcohol, l-menthol and phenethyl alcohol, this rapid selective adaptation unmasked each component. We suggest that these findings relate directly to how olfactory qualities are coded: olfactory receptors do not act as detectors of isolated molecular features, but likely recognize entire molecules closely associated with perceived olfactory qualities or "notes." Rapid and focused activation of a few distinct receptor types may dominate most odor percepts, emphasizing the importance of many dynamic and specific neural signals. An interaction between two fundamental coding strategies, mixture suppression and selective adaptation, with hundreds of potential olfactory notes, explains humans experiencing the appearance and disappearance of identifiable odors against ambient mixture backgrounds.

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“…The patterns of connectivity and the role of the balance between excitation and inhibition, in the formation of sparse and distributed patterns of neuronal activity, are stressed out. Finally, the psychophysical experiments of Laing et al (Laing & Frances, 1989;Laing et al, 1984) provide good evidence for the segmentation of information in olfactory tasks, against which models could be tested.…”

Section: Physiological Aspectsmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Odor molecules can appear in different combinations. From psychophysics (Laing & Frances, 1989;Laing, Panhuber, Willcox & Pittman, 1984), we know that any new mixture of odors is treated as a unique percept; but when the separate components are known in advance, their discrimination becomes possible. Although the clearest examples are at the low level of sensory processing, processes of segmentation should occur also at higher cognitive levels (Wang et al, 1990).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pattern segmentation in a binary/analog world: unsupervised learning versus memory storing

2000

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We discuss the problem of segmentation in pattern recognition. We adopt the model and the general approach in the landmark paper by Wang, Buhmann and von der Malsburg (Neural Computation, (1990), 2, 94-106), and expand their model in a number of ways. We review their solution to the segmentation problem in associative memory, which consists in feature binding being expressed by synchrony relations between oscillators or populations of neurons. We extend the model by introducing a law of synaptic change, which allows the network to learn by structuring itself in response to stimuli with relevant features. We discuss the problem of interference between pattern completion and the learning of new memories. We also propose a form of multiplexing of input information taking advantage of the time-structure of the neurons' response. It is based on the assessment of analog as well as of binary properties of the stimuli and provides for an enhancement of the network's processing capacity. The relevance of the results for biological systems is pointed out. ᭧

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Quality and intensity of binary odor mixtures

Cited by 171 publications

References 15 publications

Odor detection of single chemicals and binary mixtures

Odor detection of single chemicals and binary mixtures

Characteristic component odors emerge from mixtures after selective adaptation

Pattern segmentation in a binary/analog world: unsupervised learning versus memory storing

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