Perception of Olfactory and Intranasal Trigeminal Stimuli Following Cutaneous Electrical-stimulation

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

Abstract

Based on previous research it may be hypothesized that the perception of odorants is modified by an axon reflex emanating from trigeminal afferents activated via the skin and/or the intranasal respiratory epithelium. The present experiment investigated the effects of trigeminal cutaneous stimulation on intensity estimates of intranasal chemical stimuli. While the left nostril was stimulated chemically with olfactory and trigeminal stimulants, four regions of the face were stimulated electrically. Intensity estimates of the chemical stimuli tended to increase after cutaneous electrical stimulation which may be interpreted in terms of response priming. The effect of electrical stimulation did not differ at the 4 stimulation sites. The results argue against the hypothesis that the processing of intranasal chemical stimuli is modified peripherally by cutaneous trigeminal excitation.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)840-842
Number of pages3
JournalExperientia
Volume49
Issue number10
Publication statusPublished - 15 Oct 1993
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

PubMed 8224097
Scopus 0027368533
ORCID /0000-0001-9713-0183/work/146645482

Keywords

Keywords

  • Electrical stimulation, Interaction, Olfaction, Olfactory nerve, Somatosensory system, Trigeminal nerve