Angular Gyrus takes part in the processing of odors associated to well-being- a finding from 2 consecutive neuroimaging studies
Fri-P2-073
Presented by: Akshita Joshi
Objective- A lot is known about the effect of odors on mood, cognition and behavior. We investigated the central nervous processing of odors with and without an association to well-being (WB) in two consecutive studies.
Methods-The experiment included 2 parts: pre-testing and fMRI scans. During pre-testing subjects rated intensity, valence and WB association for 14 (study 1) and 8 (study2) different odors. Pre-testing resulted in selection of two odors as WB associated and two odors without WB association or neutral odors. These odors were further delivered to the subjects that underwent fMRI scanning.
Results-In study 1, WB associated odors when compared to neutral odors showed increased and only activation in the right angular gyrus whereas in study 2 along with left angular gyrus, other olfactory and emotional processing areas such as anterior cingulate cortex, inferior and superior frontal parts along with left posterior orbitofrontal cortex were activated. In both the studies subjects filled up WB questionnaires, scores of which were controlled during analysis.
Conclusion-The consistent involvement of the angular gyrus in wellbeing related odor processing in these two independent studies suggests that angular gyrus may have a key role when attention shifts towards the presented stimuli with high reference to emotions, value and meaning.
Methods-The experiment included 2 parts: pre-testing and fMRI scans. During pre-testing subjects rated intensity, valence and WB association for 14 (study 1) and 8 (study2) different odors. Pre-testing resulted in selection of two odors as WB associated and two odors without WB association or neutral odors. These odors were further delivered to the subjects that underwent fMRI scanning.
Results-In study 1, WB associated odors when compared to neutral odors showed increased and only activation in the right angular gyrus whereas in study 2 along with left angular gyrus, other olfactory and emotional processing areas such as anterior cingulate cortex, inferior and superior frontal parts along with left posterior orbitofrontal cortex were activated. In both the studies subjects filled up WB questionnaires, scores of which were controlled during analysis.
Conclusion-The consistent involvement of the angular gyrus in wellbeing related odor processing in these two independent studies suggests that angular gyrus may have a key role when attention shifts towards the presented stimuli with high reference to emotions, value and meaning.