Odor lateralization and spatial localization: Null effects of blindness

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Agnieszka Sorokowska - , University of Wrocław, TUD Dresden University of Technology (Author)
  • Anna Oleszkiewicz - , Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University of Wrocław, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus Dresden (Author)
  • Michał Stefańczyk - , University of Wrocław (Author)
  • Justyna Płachetka - , University of Wrocław (Author)
  • Olga Dudojć - , University of Wrocław (Author)
  • Krzysztof Ziembik - , University of Wrocław (Author)
  • Dominika Chabin - , University of Wrocław (Author)
  • Thomas Hummel - , Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus Dresden (Author)

Abstract

People can navigate through an environment using different sensory information, including olfactory cues. Correct intranasal localization and external location of odors can be learned, and some people are able to lateralize olfactory stimuli above chance, which raises the question: What determines the spectrum of olfactory localization abilities. Here, we explored whether odor lateralization and localization abilities are increased in the course of sensory compensation. In a series of studies, we combined two different aspects of odor localization. Study 1 compared abilities of 69 blind people (Mage = 41 ± 1.6 years; 32 females) and 45 sighted controls (Mage = 38.3 ± 2.1 years; 25 females) to correctly lateralize eucalyptol, an odorant with a strong trigeminal component, presented to either nostril. Studies 2 and 3 involved a more ecologically valid task, namely spatial localization of olfactory stimuli. In Study 2, 13 blind individuals (Mage = 28.5 ± 3.5 years; seven females) and 16 sighted controls (Mage = 34.9 ± 3.2 years; ten females) tried to localize a single odorant, while in Study 3, 97 blind individuals (Mage = 43.1 ±.5 years; 48 females) and 47 sighted controls (Mage = 38.7 ±.7 years; 27 females) attempted to localize a single target odor in an experimental olfactory space comprising four different odorants. Blind and sighted subjects did not differ in their abilities to lateralize and to localize odors, and their performance across all tasks suggests that odor lateralization and localization are important for navigation in an environment regardless of visual status.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2078-2087
Number of pages10
JournalAttention, Perception, and Psychophysics
Volume81
Issue number6
Publication statusPublished - 15 Aug 2019
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

PubMed 30993657
ORCID /0000-0001-9713-0183/work/151438489

Keywords

Keywords

  • Blindness, Lateralization, Localization, Olfaction, Sensory compensation, Visual impairment