Olfactomotor activity during imagery mimics that during perception

Moustafa Bensafi; Jessica Porter; Sandra Pouliot; Joel Mainland; Bradley Johnson; Christina Zelano; Natasha Young; Elizabeth Bremner; Danny Aframian; Rehan Khan; Noam Sobel

doi:10.1038/nn1145

Olfactomotor activity during imagery mimics that during perception

Moustafa Bensafi^*, Jessica Porter, Sandra Pouliot, Joel Mainland, Bradley Johnson, Christina Zelano, Natasha Young, Elizabeth Bremner, Danny Aframian, Rehan Khan, Noam Sobel

^*Corresponding author for this work

Neurology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

165 Scopus citations

Abstract

Neural representations created in the absence of external sensory stimuli are referred to as imagery, and such representations may be augmented by reenactment of sensorimotor processes. We measured nasal airflow in human subjects while they imagined sights, sounds and smells, and only during olfactory imagery did subjects spontaneously enact the motor component of olfaction-that is, they sniffed. Moreover, as in perception, imagery of pleasant odors involved larger sniffs than imagery of unpleasant odors, suggesting that the act of sniffing has a functional role in creating of olfactory percepts.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	1142-1144
Number of pages	3
Journal	Nature neuroscience
Volume	6
Issue number	11
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/nn1145
State	Published - Nov 2003

Funding

This work was supported by grants from the Swiss National Science Foundation (3232-058420.99 to D.Q., and 32-068859, PP00B-68859/1 to A.P.), by the Hartmann-Müller-Stiftung (D.Q.) and by the National Center for Competence in Research (NCCR) “Neuronal Plasticity and Repair”. This work was supported by the Searle Foundation, the Fondation Fyssen, and an R03 grant from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIH-NIDCD). We thank Arak Elite.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Neuroscience

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title = "Olfactomotor activity during imagery mimics that during perception",

abstract = "Neural representations created in the absence of external sensory stimuli are referred to as imagery, and such representations may be augmented by reenactment of sensorimotor processes. We measured nasal airflow in human subjects while they imagined sights, sounds and smells, and only during olfactory imagery did subjects spontaneously enact the motor component of olfaction-that is, they sniffed. Moreover, as in perception, imagery of pleasant odors involved larger sniffs than imagery of unpleasant odors, suggesting that the act of sniffing has a functional role in creating of olfactory percepts.",

author = "Moustafa Bensafi and Jessica Porter and Sandra Pouliot and Joel Mainland and Bradley Johnson and Christina Zelano and Natasha Young and Elizabeth Bremner and Danny Aframian and Rehan Khan and Noam Sobel",

note = "Funding Information: This work was supported by grants from the Swiss National Science Foundation (3232-058420.99 to D.Q., and 32-068859, PP00B-68859/1 to A.P.), by the Hartmann-M{\"u}ller-Stiftung (D.Q.) and by the National Center for Competence in Research (NCCR) “Neuronal Plasticity and Repair”. Funding Information: This work was supported by the Searle Foundation, the Fondation Fyssen, and an R03 grant from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIH-NIDCD). We thank Arak Elite.",

year = "2003",

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doi = "10.1038/nn1145",

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AU - Bensafi, Moustafa

AU - Porter, Jessica

AU - Pouliot, Sandra

AU - Mainland, Joel

AU - Johnson, Bradley

AU - Zelano, Christina

AU - Young, Natasha

AU - Bremner, Elizabeth

AU - Aframian, Danny

AU - Khan, Rehan

AU - Sobel, Noam

N1 - Funding Information: This work was supported by grants from the Swiss National Science Foundation (3232-058420.99 to D.Q., and 32-068859, PP00B-68859/1 to A.P.), by the Hartmann-Müller-Stiftung (D.Q.) and by the National Center for Competence in Research (NCCR) “Neuronal Plasticity and Repair”. Funding Information: This work was supported by the Searle Foundation, the Fondation Fyssen, and an R03 grant from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIH-NIDCD). We thank Arak Elite.

PY - 2003/11

Y1 - 2003/11

N2 - Neural representations created in the absence of external sensory stimuli are referred to as imagery, and such representations may be augmented by reenactment of sensorimotor processes. We measured nasal airflow in human subjects while they imagined sights, sounds and smells, and only during olfactory imagery did subjects spontaneously enact the motor component of olfaction-that is, they sniffed. Moreover, as in perception, imagery of pleasant odors involved larger sniffs than imagery of unpleasant odors, suggesting that the act of sniffing has a functional role in creating of olfactory percepts.

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Olfactomotor activity during imagery mimics that during perception

Abstract

Funding

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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