Increased sensitivity to unpleasant odor following acute psychological stress
Research output: Contribution to journal › Research article › Contributed › peer-review
Contributors
Abstract
Previous studies have reported increased sensitivity to malodor after acute stress in humans. However, it is unclear whether stress-related “hypersensitivity” to odors depends on odor pleasantness. Forty participants (mean age 19.13 ± 1.14 years, 21 men and 19 women) completed a stress (Trier Social Stress Test, TSST) and a control session in randomized order. Detection threshold to three odors varying in pleasantness (pleasant: β-Citronellol; neutral: 2-Heptanol; unpleasant: 4-Methylpentanoic acid), odor discrimination, odor identification, sensitivity to trigeminal odor, and suprathreshold odor perception were assessed after participants' completion of the stress or the control tasks. Salivary cortisol, subjective stress, and heart rate were assessed throughout the experiment. After TSST, participants showed an increased sensitivity for the unpleasant odor. Moreover, there were correlations between stress-related salivary cortisol and the increased sensitivity for the unpleasant odor (r = 0.32, p = 0.05) and the neutral odor (r = 0.34, p < 0.05). Besides, salivary cortisol response was correlated to the increased odor discrimination performance (Δ stress - control) (r = 0.34, p < 0.05). The post-TSST perceived stress was correlated with decreased odor identification and decreased sensitivity to the unpleasant odor. After stress, participants rated lower pleasantness for β-Citronellol than the control condition. Overall, these results suggest the impact of acute psychological stress on odor sensitivity depends on the odor valence, and that the stress-related cortisol responses may play an important role in this effect.
Details
Original language | English |
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Article number | 105325 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Hormones and behavior |
Volume | 150 |
Publication status | Published - Apr 2023 |
Peer-reviewed | Yes |
External IDs
PubMed | 36805607 |
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unpaywall | 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2023.105325 |
WOS | 000965306400001 |
ORCID | /0000-0001-9713-0183/work/146645383 |
Keywords
ASJC Scopus subject areas
Keywords
- Acute stress, Odor sensitivity, Odor valence, Salivary cortisol, Humans, Male, Emotions/physiology, Hydrocortisone, Odorants, Young Adult, Adolescent, Stress, Psychological, Adult, Female