The Impact of Stress on Odor Perception

Abstract

The olfactory system and emotional systems are highly intervened and share common neuronal structures. The current study investigates whether emotional (e.g., anger and fear) and physiological (saliva cortisol) stress responses are associated with odor identification ability and hedonic odor judgments (intensity, pleasantness, and unpleasantness). Nineteen men participated in the modified Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) and a control session (cycling on a stationary bike). The physiological arousal was similar in both sessions. In each session, participants' odor identification score was assessed using the University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test, and their transient mood was recorded on the dimensions of valence, arousal, anger, and anxiety. Multivariate regression analyses show that an increase of cortisol in the TSST session (as compared with the control session) is associated with better odor identification performance (β = .491) and higher odor intensity ratings (β = .562). However, increased anger in the TSST session (as compared with the control session) is associated with lower odor identification performance (β = -.482). The study shows divergent effects of the emotional and the physiological stress responses, indicating that an increase of cortisol is associated with better odor identification performance, whereas increased anger is associated with poorer odor identification performance.

Behavioral and Neurobiological Convergence of Odor, Mood and Emotion: A Review

“…This anxiety-induced change in odor perception is associated with enhanced PCX and OFC odor-evoked activity, and enhanced functional connectivity between the amygdala and olfactory cortex (Krusemark et al, 2013). Mood-related changes in neural connectivity and odor responses could, in part, be induced through anxiety-related changes in cortisol (Hoenen et al, 2017) or through direct changes in neural activity.…”

“…Treating or preventing more acute anxiolysis, such as anxiety induced by a visit to the dentist or when taking an exam, maybe more tractable (Lehrner et al, 2000), though again, interpersonal variables will be an issue to be addressed. Furthermore, anxiety and stress itself can modify olfactory function (Krusemark et al, 2013;Hoenen et al, 2017), which could interact with any planned therapeutic effect.…”

A Rose Extract Protects the Skin against Stress Mediators: A Potential Role of Olfactory Receptors

“…Such an effect was already observed for OR2AG2 transcripts which was significantly lower in the lungs of asthmatics compared to normal subjects [ 42 ]. Therefore, as seen for the brain [ 43 , 44 ], the skin olfactory system might be affected under stress conditions. When rose extract was present during epinephrine-induced stress, no downregulation was observed in the mRNA levels of skin ORs, while, at the protein level, only OR2AG2 expression followed this trend.…”

Review: Impact of food, gut–brain signals and metabolic status on brain activity in the pig model: 10 years of nutrition research using in vivo brain imaging

“…Even though this question was not investigated in the pig model, we explored another relationship between the internal state and brain responses to odours. Emotional and physiological responses to stress are known to impact olfactory perception (Hoenen et al, 2017). We recently aimed to describe the consequences of a psychosocial stress in pigs on the gut-brain axis, behaviour and brain responses to olfactory food stimuli.…”