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. 2022 Jul;279(7):3503-3510.
doi: 10.1007/s00405-021-07170-0. Epub 2021 Dec 18.

Olfactory adaptation: recordings from the human olfactory epithelium

Coralie Mignot  1 , Anica Schunke  2 , Charlotte Sinding  3 , Thomas Hummel  2
Affiliations

Olfactory adaptation: recordings from the human olfactory epithelium

Coralie Mignot et al. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol. 2022 Jul.

Abstract

Purpose: Olfactory adaptation is a peripheral (at the epithelium level) or a central (at the brain level) mechanism resulting from repeated or prolonged odorous exposure that can induce a perceptual decrease. The aim of this study was to assess whether a peripheral adaptation occurs when an odor is repeated ten times. Moreover, the specificity of the peripheral adaptation to the nature of the odorant was investigated.

Methods: Four odorants (eugenol, manzanate, ISO E Super and phenylethanol) were presented using precisely controlled air-dilution olfactometry. They differed in terms of their physicochemical properties. Electrophysiological recordings were made at the level of the olfactory mucosa, the so-called electro-olfactogram (EOG). Thirty-five right-handed participants were recruited.

Results: Sixty-nine percent of the participants presented at least one EOG, whatever the odor condition. The EOG amplitude did not significantly decrease over 10 repeated exposures to any odorant. The intensity ratings tended to decrease over stimulations for manzanate, PEA, and eugenol. No correlation was found between the mean EOG amplitudes and the mean intensity ratings. However, the presence of EOG amplitude decreases over stimulations for few subjects suggests that peripheral adaptation might exist.

Conclusion: Overall, our results did not establish a clear peripheral adaptation measured with EOG but indicate the eventuality of such an effect.

Keywords: Adaptation; EOG; Electro-olfactogram; Habituation; Intensity; Repeated stimulations.

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Conflict of interest statement

We declare having no competing interests for this work. We attest that the work described here has not been published or submitted elsewhere. All authors gave final approval for publication and agree to be held accountable for the work performed therein.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Mean intensity ratings over repeated stimulations for EUG, ISO E, MAN and PEA. EUG eugenol, ISO Iso E Super, MAN manzanate, PEA phenyl–ethyl alcohol. The intensity scale was reframed from 40 to 65 to focus on the slopes
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Typical EOG responses over 10 stimulations. The figure represents the signal of a single subject exposed to EUG. The EOG is usually described as a small positivity followed by a large negativity, or sometimes just a large negativity. The amplitude is expressed as mV. The gray part highlights the period during which the stimulations were delivered. A decrease of N1 amplitude over stimulations can be observed here. The positivity at the beginning of the recordings represents an eye blink
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Mean N1 amplitudes over stimulations for EUG, ISO E, MAN and PEA. EUG eugenol, ISO Iso E Super, MAN manzanate, PEA phenyl–ethyl alcohol
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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