Olfaction modulates visual perception in binocular rivalry.

ABSTRACT: Vision is widely accepted as the dominant sense in larger primates including humans, whereas olfaction is often considered a vestigial sense yielding only obscure object representations [1]. It is well documented that vision drives olfactory perception [2, 3], but there has been little indication that olfaction could modulate visual perception. Here we introduce smells to a well-established visual phenomenon termed binocular rivalry, perceptual alternations that occur when distinctively different images are separately presented to the two eyes [4]. We show that an odorant congruent to one of the competing images prolongs the time that image is visible and shortens its suppression time in a manner that is automatic, essentially independent of cognitive control, and partly subconscious. Our

SUBMITTER: Zhou W 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4226334 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature