ISSN 1671-3710
CN 11-4766/R
主办:中国科学院心理研究所
出版:科学出版社

›› 2012, Vol. 20 ›› Issue (1): 2-9.

• 主编特邀 • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Olfactory Perception and Its Interplays with the Emotional System

ZHOU Wen;FENG Guo   

  1. (Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China)
  • Received:2011-09-16 Revised:1900-01-01 Online:2012-01-12 Published:2012-01-12
  • Contact: ZHOU Wen

Abstract: Out of all senses, olfaction is particularly linked with human emotion. The kinship is rooted in the evolutionary process, which possibly shaped the highly overlapped anatomical compositions between the two systems. Anecdotal descriptions aside, recent empirical studies have examined the interplays between olfaction and emotion either with or without subjective awareness, as well as the underlying mechanisms. These efforts have outlined the behavioral affinity between olfaction and emotion as well as their shared neural encoding scheme involving structures like the amygdala, hippocampus, insular and orbitofrontal cortex. The findings also highlight the distinct roles of non-social odorants and social chemosignals in modulating emotional processes.

Key words: olfaction, emotion, limbic system