Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Olfactory Influences'

Molti studi nel campo del comportamento di consumo hanno sottolineato il ruolo fondamentale che le emozioni esercitano sul comportamento. La maggioranza dei nostri comportamenti è guidata da risposte emozionali all’ambiente. Allo scopo di comprendere il comportamento di consumo è cruciale indagare cosa siano le emozioni, come possano essere misurate ed elicitate, e come queste possano direttamente influenzare il comportamento. Le emozioni possono essere elicitate da diversi stimoli sensoriali. Precedenti studi di psicologia e neurofisiologia hanno usato esclusivamente stimoli affettivi visivi per elicitare le emozioni, mentre altre modalità sensoriali hanno ricevuto meno attenzione. La presente tesi si focalizza sugli stimoli olfattivi come trigger inconsci di emozioni. L’olfatto è stato studiato per le sue connessioni e la sua influenza sulle emozioni umane e sui processi cognitivi, ma le corrispondenze cross-modali e le interazioni tra l’odore e gli altri sensi sono state scarsamente indagate. Questa tesi affronta specificamente le problematiche teoretiche di come possano essere definite e misurate le emozioni, in particolare di come le emozioni possano essere elicitate da stimoli olfattivi e come questi influenzino la propensione all’acquisto dei consumatori. In relazione agli ambiente dei punti vendita reali, un’altra questione affrontata è come stimoli affettivi (in-)congruenti provenienti da diverse modalità sensoriali influenzino la risposta emozionale e come la percezione degli odori possa essere influenzata dalle corrispondenze cross-modali con gli altri sensi. In tre studi, per comprendere queste problematiche, sono stati utilizzati strumenti per la valutazione delle emozioni implicite e self-report, questionari comportamentali self-report, test di associazioni implicite e misurazioni fisiologiche. Il primo studio ha indagato come gli odori congruenti con i prodotti stimolino l’intenzione d’acquisto. I risultati mostrano come gli odori congruenti con i prodotti aumentino l’intenzione d’acquisto tramite l’effetto che hanno sulle emozioni positive e facilitino l’accesso alle informazioni del prodotto. Il secondo studio ha verificato l’effetto combinato di stimoli attivanti olfattivi e uditivi sulla percezione di immagini affettive. I risultati mostrano che stimoli congruenti in termini di attivazione influenzano differentemente le misure self-report e fisiologiche. L’effetto della co-occorrenza di stimolazione attivante tra le modalità olfattiva e uditiva migliora marcatamente l’esperienza emozionale evocata da immagine affettive. Nel terzo studio è stata indagata l’interazione cross-modale tra odore e differenti modalità sensoriali tramite test di associazione. I risultati hanno suggerito che gli odori possono essere classificati e indentificati usando come attributi distintivi principali gli stimoli provenienti da altre modalità sensoriali, associazioni cross-modali ed emozioni. Considerati insieme, questi risultati suggeriscono che gli stimoli olfattivi influenzino inconsciamente il comportamento di consumo non solo attraverso gli effetti diretti che l’odore ha sulle emozioni ma anche attraverso il priming. L’odore ambientale può guidare il consumatore ad acquisti non pianificati, in quanto opera da sollecitatore inconscio di bisogni di consumo. Questi risultati sono in linea con la letteratura precedente dimostrando che gli stimoli olfattivi influenzano direttamente le emozioni. Queste scoperte portano a nuova conoscenza su come la congruenza, in termini di attivazione affettiva tra diverse modalità sensoriali, moduli le risposte emozionali. I presenti risultati contribuiscono a una conoscenza migliore delle interazioni cross-modali nella percezione dell’odore. L’odore può essere classificato usando attributi distintivi di altre modalità sensoriali. Vengono discusse le implicazioni teoriche e pratiche.

L’alimentation maternelle conditionne la santé métabolique et cardiovasculaire de la progéniture, mais l’impact sur les systèmes sensoriels reste peu étudié. L’olfaction joue un rôle comportemental crucial pour l’évitement des dangers et pour la prise alimentaire. Dès le plus jeune âge, les odeurs participent à l’établissement des préférences alimentaires, qui influencent les habitudes alimentaires de l’adulte. Le système olfactif repose sur le fonctionnement de neurones qui se développent pendant la vie embryonnaire, continuent leur maturation après la naissance et sont continuellement régénérés au cours de la vie. Ces neurones sont en permanence modulés par les facteurs métaboliques. Les patients atteints de troubles métaboliques ont plus de risques de présenter des altérations de la perception des odeurs, et l’exposition à une alimentation de type obésogène ou diabétogène induit des perturbations olfactives chez le rongeur.Le but de cette thèse était d’explorer les effets d’une exposition périnatale au gras et au sucre, à travers l’alimentation maternelle pendant les périodes de préconception, gestation et lactation, sur la physiologie olfactive de souris juvéniles.L’alimentation grasse et sucrée (high-fat high-sucrose, HFHS) a modifié la composition lipidique du lait maternel. La caractérisation métabolique des petits a révélé un surpoids, un excès de masse grasse épididymaire et une hyperleptinémie chez les petits provenant d'une mère sous alimentation HFHS. Les capacités olfactives évaluées lors d'un test de nourriture enfouie et par mesure du comportement de flairage induit par les odeurs étaient altérées chez les petits dont la mère a été exposée à l'alimentation HFHS. Cependant, nos résultats n’ont pas montré de modification de la sensibilité de l’épithélium olfactif (EO) ou de l’expression des gènes codant pour les éléments de la cascade de transduction olfactive. L’exploration du traitement central du signal olfactif a révélé un impact de l’alimentation maternelle HFHS sur le degré de ramification dendritique des interneurones du bulbe olfactif. En revanche, l’activation des neurones dans le cortex piriforme après une exposition odorante n’était pas modifiée.Ainsi, l'alimentation maternelle HFHS pendant les périodes de développement des petits induit chez les mâles des altérations de la perception olfactive, sans perturbation de la détection des odeurs par l'EO, mais associées à des modifications neuronales dans les structures olfactives centrales. La leptine, hormone métabolique connue pour son action sur l’olfaction et sur le développement neuronal, pourrait être à l’origine de ces déficits olfactifs
The influence of maternal diet on progeny’s health has been thoroughly investigated regarding metabolic and cardiovascular diseases, but the impact on sensory systems remains unknown. Olfaction is of great behavioral importance for avoiding hazards and for feeding behavior. In childhood especially, olfaction participates in establishing food preferences, which partly determine adult eating habits. The olfactory system is made of sensory neurons that develop during the embryonic life, pursue their maturation after birth and are continuously regenerated over life. Olfactory neurons activity can be modulated by metabolic factors. Patients with metabolic disorders are at risk of impaired olfactory sensitivity. Adult mice exposed to an obesogenic or diabetogenic diet exhibit disrupted olfactory behavior.The aim of this thesis was to investigate the effect of a perinatal exposure to fat and sugar, through maternal diet during preconception, gestation and lactation, on the olfactory system of young mice.Maternal high fat high sugar (HFHS) diet modified milk lipids composition. When investigating pups’ metabolic phenotype, overweight, increased epididymal fat and hyperleptinemia were revealed in pup’s born from dams fed with the HFHS diet. Olfactory abilities were assessed in a buried food test and by measuring odor-induced sniffing behavior and were disrupted in the progeny of HFHS diet fed dams. However, olfactory epithelium sensitivity and gene expression of constituents of the olfactory transduction cascade were not affected by maternal HFHS diet. When investigating olfactory central processing, dendritic complexity of interneurons in the olfactory bulb was found to be affected by maternal HFHS diet. Meanwhile, neuronal activation in piriform cortex was not altered.These results show that maternal HFHS diet during pups’ development alters olfactory perception in male progeny, without impairing odor detection by the OE, and associated with neuronal modifications in olfactory central areas. Leptin is a metabolic hormone known to influence olfaction and neurons development which could have induced the olfactory defects

Olfactory function is affected by demographic, cognitive, and genetic factors. In the present thesis, three empirical studies investigated individual differences in olfactory ability. Study I explored demographic and cognitive correlates in common olfactory tasks; odor detection, odor discrimination, and odor identification. The results indicated that old age influenced performance negatively in all tasks, and that semantic memory proficiency and executive functioning were related to odor discrimination and odor identification performance. No cognitive influence was observed for measurements of olfactory threshold. Using population-based data, Study II investigated a potential influence of the ApoE gene on olfactory identification after controlling for health status, semantic memory, and preclinical and clinical dementia. The main finding was that the ApoE- ɛ4 allele interacted with age, such that older ɛ4-carriers had an impaired odor identification performance relative to older non-carriers. Importantly, the negative ApoE- ɛ4 effect on olfactory proficiency was independent of clinical dementia conversion within five years. Study III investigated the effects of the BDNF val66met polymorphism on olfactory change over a five-year interval, in a community dwelling sample of young and old age cohorts. The results showed that age-related decline in olfactory identification was influenced by the BDNF val66met. In middle-aged subjects, no effect of BDNF val66met was observed although older val homozygote carriers showed a selectively larger olfactory decline than the older met carriers. Overall, results suggest that the relative influence of demographic and cognitive factors vary across different olfactory tasks and that two genes (ApoE and BDNF) impact age-related deficits in odor identification. Potential theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed as well as potential limitations of association studies in genomics research.

Thesis: S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, 2016.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 102-110).
Our sense of smell is perhaps the most pervasive of all senses, as it has the ability to evoke memories and emotions in a vivid and subtle manner. While olfactory communication is one of the most basic methods of communication, it is also one of the least understood and one of the least exploited in human computer interaction. In this thesis we describe the hidden power of scent along with the design and implementation of "Essence", a custom made olfactory wearable device and its stationary version. Essence is a necklace that can be used by any person in their daily life for the purpose of altering one's mood, as well as affecting cognitive and psychological conditions. It can influence the user's behavior through consciously perceivable as well as subliminal bursts of scent released while the person is asleep or awake. The device can be remotely controlled through a smartphone and can vary the intensity and frequency of the released scent. The system can also potentially be triggered by physiological data such as brain signals, heart rate, or galvanic skin response, etc. The types of scent that can be placed in the necklace can range from essential oils to odorless scents like hormones and pheromones. We conducted a set of preliminary studies that show an overall satisfaction, comfort and ease of use of the system. We also demonstrate the effectiveness for mood enhancing and cognitive performance during wakefulness and sleep state.
by Judith Amores Fernandez.
S.M.

Predation by olfactory meso-predators has a large impact on avian nest success, particularly for ground-nesting waterfowl. Olfactory predators rely on odors to locate their prey. Weather conditions (e.g. wind speed, humidity, and temperature), vegetation, and landscape features affect the dissipation rate of odors and could affect the foraging efficiency of olfactory predators. I conducted 2 studies to determine if weather and landscape impact predator foraging ability and behavior: a predator survey study and an artificial nest study. The objective of the predator survey was to investigate how landscape and weather conditions interact to influence the distribution of olfactory meso-predators [e.g. red foxes (Vulpes vulpes), skunks (Mephitis mephitis), and raccoons (Procyon lotor)] in their nightly foraging on the dike. Specifically, I examined how wind speed, wind orientation, temperature, and humidity affect the distribution, number, and species of olfactory meso-predators foraging on the Arthur V. Watkins Dike at Willard Bay State Park and Reservoir. The objective of the artificial nest study was to determine if weather, vegetation, or nest location relative to a large-scale surface feature have an effect on survival of artificial ground-nests in an area dominated by olfactory meso-predators. Artificial nests were placed on the dike throughout the summer of 2009. Spotlighting surveys for predators were conducted from August 2008 to August 2009. I found that section of the dike, time since study initiation, terrain type on the dike, wind speed, and vegetation height during daylight hours affected nest survival. The results indicated that predators formed olfactory search images in that nest survival decreased over the summer, while predator populations remained constant. I observed foxes, skunks, and raccoons while spotlighting for predators. After accounting for time, wind speed and direction were significant predictors of predators' nightly foraging activity with most predators observed when wind speeds were 2 to 4 m/s and winds were blowing from the northwest. Overall the model accounted for 75% of the nightly variation in predator numbers. Additionally, wind speed and direction impacted where predators were foraging. There were interspecific differences among predators in their responses to wind speed with raccoons being observed more than skunks and foxes when the wind was calm and blowing from the south. The results of the spotlighting data indicate that wind speed and direction have a strong effect on foraging activity. Overall, I concluded that wind speed affects predator foraging ability and behavior.

Pax-6 and X-dll3 are homeobox-containing transcription factors that are expressed in developing anterior neural structures in Xenopus. Characterization of multiple Xenopus Pax-6 cDNAs reveals that they fall into four distinct classes. These classes are defined based on the presence or absence of a 42 base pair sequence in the paired box, and the presence or absence of a 151 base pair sequence located downstream of the homeobox. Transcripts containing the 151 base pair sequence encode a highly conserved form of Pax-6, and are referred to as Xenopus A variants. Transcripts lacking the 151 base pair sequence, producing a change in reading frame that encodes a novel carboxy terminus, are referred to as Xenopus B variants. Xenopus A and B transcripts are produced from an alternate splicing event that occurs in each of at least two Pax-6 genes existing in the Xenopus genome. Both A and B transcripts are expressed in brain and eye tissue. Antibodies generated against unique peptide sequences located in the carboxy-terminal domains of the proteins produced from Xenopus A and B transcripts distinguish expression patterns for the two resulting proteins, and indicate that they are expressed differentially in the developing retina and lens. Five phenotypes result from overexpression of these Pax-6 transcripts: ectopic lens crystallin expression, reduction of endogenous lens tissue, retinas with altered size and morphology, ectopic eye formation, and a reduction of the olfactory placode. Both Xenopus A and Xenopus B can elicit the reduction of both lens and olfactory placodes, and the expansion of retinal tissue, while only Xenopus A can elicit ectopic eye formation and ectopic lens crystallin expression. These studies indicate that overexpression of Pax-6 can produce differential effects on Xenopus eye development, and support a model whereby the concentration of Pax-6 proteins is a critical factor for the development of the Xenopus lens and retina. Overexpression of X-dll3 transcripts also produces morphological defects in both the developing eye and olfactory system. The developing eye appears reduced in size, and this reduction seems to be predominant in the anterior portion of the eye. The developing forebrain and olfactory placode, in contrast, appear expanded. These results support a model whereby overexpression of X-dll3 expands the presumptive olfactory fields, at the expense of the anterior portion of the presumptive eye field. The combined results from these experiments indicate that overexpression of Pax-6 and X-dll3 transcripts exert differential effects on visual and olfactory system development in Xenopus.

Infectious disease transmission is driven by a complex suite of drivers with behavior and landscape dynamics contributing to epidemics across host-pathogen systems. However, our understanding of the interaction between landscape, behavior, and infectious disease remains limited. In the banded mongoose (Mungos mungo), a novel tuberculosis pathogen, Mycobacterium mungi, has emerged in Northern Botswana that is transmitted through olfactory communication behaviors. Using this host-pathogen system, this thesis explores the influence of various land use areas along the human-wildlife interface on animal behavior, and ultimately, pathogen transmission potential. Using behavior data from remote sensing camera traps, a generalized linear mixed model identified vigilance behavior, land use, and their interaction as important factors in predicting olfactory behavior. Cluster and Classification and Regression Tree (CART) analysis of active den sites (n= 308, across 23 troops) identified the important characteristics of dens across land use areas. In human-modified environments, man-made den sites persisted longer than did natural dens which became unsuitable through environmental processes (e.g., collapse). We also document the occurrence of nighttime activity for this species, perceived to be strictly diurnal. These data provide information critical to the development of robust computational models and underscore the importance of both landscape and behavior in accurately predicting and managing infectious disease outbreaks.
M. S.

La thèse porte sur la communication olfactive impliquant les individus, en position d’interactants, lors de situations de communication de « face-à-face ». Nous pensons que porter un parfum est une forme d’intention communicative sur ce que le sujet parfumé communicant aspire à être. Dans le champ des sciences de l’information et de la communication, la communication olfactive est étudiée dans un contexte théorique mobilisant des ressources issues de l’interactionnisme et de l’ethnométhodologie.Se parfumer, apparaissant comme une envie de communiquer sur son soi, nous essayons de mieux comprendre les processus de construction identitaire en articulation avec le soi. Cependant, comme l’odorat est un sens très intimiste, se référant notamment aux expériences olfactives passées, la qualité d’un parfum est une donnée très subjective. C’est pourquoi, sur le plan méthodologique, nous avons construit un protocole, axé sur la notion d’interaction (Goffman), afin de manipuler différents contextes d’échanges. L’objectif est de mieux comprendre quel rôle le parfum joue dans diverses situations de communication interpersonnelle.Une enquête qualitative a été menée sur 35 sujets, issus deux pays voisins, la Suisse et la France. Chaque interview en profondeur est basée sur un test projectif où le sujet est amené à construire la représentation d’un individu communiquant en fonction d’une senteur. Les résultats montrent que ne pouvant nous « réapproprier » la perception de l’autre, nous sommes contraints d’inférer, à partir de son comportement et de notre propre expérience, ce qu’il ressent. Le sujet infère des informations qu’il juge adéquates et pertinentes sur l’autre en se basant sur son vécu expérientiel en lien avec le parfum qu’il sent : l’odeur devient un dispositif d’information qui véhicule des données précédemment encodées. L’individu parfumé est alors un dispositif communicationnel exposé au nez de l’interactant. Ce dernier, récepteur de la communication olfactive, infère les intentions communicatives de l’individu parfumé à partir de l’odeur qu’il perçoit. L’odeur est un « marqueur moral » (Le Breton, 2006), révélatrice de ce que nous sommes intrinsèquement, en tant qu’individu, la bonté sent bon, tout ce qui est de l’ordre du malsain « empeste ». La thèse montre qu’hommes et femmes n’ont pas les mêmes impressions olfactives à propos des mêmes parfums, qu’il existe des formes de corrélations olfactives en termes d’imaginaire d’un individu à un autre, indépendamment de l’âge et du pays d’origine. Conduisant à construire une identité sociale, certains parfums inspirent plus de sympathie, voire de naïveté que d’autres. A l’inverse, certains provoquent du mépris et même du dégoût
The thesis focuses on olfactory communication involving individuals in position of interactants during "face to face" communication situations. I believe that wearing a fragrance is one form of communicative intent on what the communicating subject aspires to be. In the field of information and communication sciences, olfactory communication is studied in a theoretical context which mobilises resources from interactionism and ethnomethodology. Since wearing perfume appears to be a desire to communicate about our self, I try to understand better the processes of identity construction in conjunction with the self. However as the sense of smell is very intimate, for instance it refers to past olfactory experiences, the quality of a fragrance is a very subjective data. Therefore, my methodology was built according to a protocol based on the concept of interaction (Goffman) in order to handle different contexts of exchanges. The aim is to understand better what role scent plays in various situations of interpersonal communication.A qualitative survey was conducted on 35 subjects from two neighboring countries, Switzerland and France. Each in-depth interview is based on a projective test for which the subject is required to build a representation of a communicating individual according to a scent. The results show that since we cannot "reclaim" the perception of the other, we are forced to infer what he feels according to their behavior and our own experience. The subject infers information on the other he deems appropriate and relevant, based on his experiential background in relation with the perfume he smells: the odor becomes an information device that conveys previously encoded data. The perfumed individual is therefore a communicative device exposed to the nose of the interactant. The latter, receiving olfactory communication, infers the communicative intentions of the fragranced individual from the smell he perceives. The odor is a "moral marker" (Le Breton, 2006), revealing who we truly are as an individual, kindness smells good, everything dodgy "stinks." The thesis shows that men and women have different olfactory impressions about the same scents, that there are forms of correlations in terms of olfactory imagination from one individual to another, regardless of how old they are and where they come from. Some perfumes inspire more sympathy or even more ingenuousness than others in order to lead us towards building a social identity. However, others on the contrary can cause contempt and even disgust

博士
國立中興大學
園藝學系所
103
The study attempts to combines auditory and olfactory sense with thermal comfort and thermal adaptation mode. We hope to find the stimulus of auditory and olfactory sense which can promote feeling of thermal comfort, when the outdoor thermal environment is discomfortable. And to explore these effects of these stimulus for thermal adaptation mode to provide muti-thoughts in investigation of thermal adaptation mode and study of outdoor thermal comfort to thermal comfort researchers. This also help landscape designers to use more sensory stimulation to create a more comfortable thermal environment parkland, increase people’s willingness to outdoor activities, enhance public health and save energy using. This study followed research themes to plan a series of four studies, purpose contain：1. Find out the stimulus of auditory and olfactory sense which can improve outdoor thermal comfort. 2. Construct thermal adaptation construction of outdoor thermal environment and propose subjects which are suitable for thermal adaptation investigations of outdoor environment user. 3. Discuss by adding the stimulus of auditory and olfactory sense, what type of thermal environment will affect thermal sensation. 4. Verify auditory and olfactory sense stimulus to the enhance effect on thermal comfort and thermal adaptation. Study one use Open-ended questionnaire and Frequency analysis to find out the majority of the subjects think these auditory and olfactory sense stimulus could improve thermal comfort. Study two uses literature review to find thermal adaptation strategies, and uses ethnographic methods to outdoor interview and elaborate on thermal adaptation strategies, then we survey, and use item analysis、EFA and CFA to analysis verification, then develop appropriate quiz for outdoor thermal adaptation questionnaire. Study three uses the control of experiment research design, we experiment in a hot or cold environment to compare the differences of subject’s thermal sensation by adding mint flavor、the sound of water flow and no adding stimulus, analysis method is t-test. Study four uses the control design and the comparative design of experiment research design to discuss six kinds of cool stimulus in hot environment and six kinds of warm stimulus in cold environment, has any influence on subject’s thermal comfort and thermal adaptation, analysis methods are t-test and ANOVA. The result we can see, auditory and olfactory sense stimulus only influence thermal sensation in the corresponding environment. In the subjects providing stimulus, the sound of water flow、the sound of wind chimes、mint flavor and green grass flavor, these four cool stimulus have significant effect on improving thermal comfort, and the improving effect of the sound of water flow and mint flavor are the best. Cicadas sound、sound of firewood、rock and roll music、barbecue flavor、hotpot flavor and rice flavor can only make you feel warming, and not effectively improving the thermal comfort. The usual thermal adaptation mode can be summarized within intro-control、shift、passive respondent、displace-oriented behavior、material-aided behavior and metabolism-related behavior, the six constructs have a total of nineteen thermal adaptation content. No matter in cold or hot environment, displace-oriented behavior and material-aided behavior are the most commonly used thermal adaptation mode, and the most unusual thermal adaptation mode is passive respondent. In the auditory and olfactory sense stimulus, we can find green grass flavor、forest flavor、cicadas sound、rock and roll music、hotpot flavor and rice flavor will change thermal adaptation mode, including reducing the passive respondent、displace-oriented behavior and material-aided behavior, and improving shift and metabolism-related behavior.

Altered dietary availability of the vital nutrient choline during early development leads to persistent changes in brain and behavior throughout adulthood. Prenatal choline supplementation during embryonic days (ED) 12-17 of the rodent gestation period enhances memory capacity and precision and hippocampal plasticity in adulthood, and protects against spatial learning and memory deficits shortly after excitotoxic seizures, whereas prenatal choline deficiency can compromise hippocampal memory and plasticity in adulthood. Recent evidence from our laboratory has determined that lifelong proliferation of newborn neurons in the adult hippocampus, a feature of adult hippocampal plasticity that has been implicated in some aspects of learning and memory, is modulated by early choline availability. Prenatal choline's effects on adult neurogenesis may be one mechanism for diet-induced cognitive changes throughout life and in response to injury, although little is known about the mechanisms underlying how prenatal choline alters adult neurogenesis or the neural mechanisms underlying prenatal choline supplementation's protection against cognitive deficits after seizures. To address these issues, the present set of experiments investigated how prenatal choline availability modulates specific properties of neurogenesis in the adult brain (in the intact brain and in response to injury), as well as hippocampal markers known to change in response to excitotoxin-induced seizures, and sought to relate changes in neurogenesis and in neuropathological markers following injury to changes in performance on spatial learning and memory tasks. Subjects in each experiment were adult offspring from rat dams that received either a control diet or diet supplemented with choline chloride or deficient of choline on ED 12-17. To measure neurogenesis, rats were given injections of the mitotic marker bromodeoxyurdine to label dividing cells in the hippocampus. Prenatal choline supplementation enhanced several properties of basal adult hippocampal neurogenesis (cell division and survival, neural stem/progenitor cell phenotype and proliferative capacity, trophic support), and this increase was associated with improvements in spatial working memory retention in a delayed-matching-to-place water maze task. In contrast, prenatal choline deficiency had little effect on basal adult hippocampal neurogenesis, and no effect on spatial memory performance. Prenatal choline supplementation also enhanced olfactory bulb neurogenesis without altering cell proliferation in the subventricular zone, while prenatal choline deficiency had no effect on either measure, showing for the first time that prenatal choline's effects on adult neurogenesis is similarly expressed in another distinct neurogenic region of the adult brain. Altered prenatal choline availability also modulated the hippocampal response to kainic acid-induced seizures where supplementation attenuated while deficiency had no effect on the injury-induced proliferative response of the dentate gyrus shortly after injury. Prenatal choline supplementation also attenuated other markers of hippocampal neuropathology shortly after seizures and promoted the long-term hippocampal recovery from seizures months after injury, including rescuing declines in adult hippocampal neurogenesis and in spatial memory performance in a standard water maze task. Taken together, these findings demonstrate a robust neuroprotective effect of prenatal choline supplementation that may be driven by enhanced adult hippocampal plasticity and trophic support prior to injury, and shed light on the mechanisms underlying how prenatal choline availability alters adult hippocampal neurogenesis, which may contribute to changes in memory capacity and precision both throughout life and following neural assault.

Dissertation

碩士
國立中興大學
園藝學系所
101
There have been many prior researches have suggested that plants have a positive effect on human beings. The fragrantic plants have not only the visual beauty, but the olfactory benefits. That is, the "olfaction" is not merely the ways to sense the outside world, but is the closest with the "emotion" among the sense organs. Besides, although the correlation in "vision to emotion" is not as close as "olfaction to emotion", The vision is still the main sense to receive the environmental stimuli and the most influential perception. Different from many researches focusing on the visual effects of plants, the study explores how emotion be affected by the interaction of olfaction and the vision. The "emotional responses of the smell" has already been discussed by some scholars; however, in these studies, the main research material of the olfactory stimuli is the "essential oils", not the real smell of plants. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to discuss the emotional responses generated from the real plants'' smell (flower scent). Banana Shrub, Gardenia, Rose and Chinese Narcissus were chosen as the study materials. The research proved not only the influence of flower scent on physiology and psychology, but significant differences of physiopsychological responses between the olfactory single sensory stimuli and the olfactory-visual dual sensory stimuli. In the research, experiments took place in the periods of April 4 to April 27, 2012(Gardenia), November 5 to November 15, 2012(Rose), January 30 to January 31, 2013(Chinese Narcissus), and March 13 to March 22, 2013(Banana Shrub), respectively. All the experiments were executed in H108, Department of Horticulture, National Chung Hsing University. In the experimental operation, the researcher let the subjects smelled the flower scent first, then showed respondents the visual stimuli. Through using ProComp InfinitiTM the physiological measurement equipment, electromyography (EMG), blood volume pulse (BVP) and heart rate (HR) were recorded. On the other hand, the questionnaire for measuring psychological scale is based on the Mehrabian-Russell model (1974) and modified the vocabularies by Schifferstein & Tanudjaja(2004), then adjusted them by Lin(2009). Reducing the number of vocabularies after the pretest, Likert 9 point scale measuring the psychological response is adopted. Each valid sample of the studies is over 30(Banana Shrub: 32, Gardenia:30, Rose:31, Chinese Narcissus:32) in the research. Comparing the data, the results revealed that most of the psychological scores (pleasure, arousal, dominance) were higher in the double stimuli(smelling and watching the plants). But the psychological responses of four flowers were different. Moreover, "pleasure" is the highest in psychological scores and the physiological significant relationships existed in the heart rate.

JEL Classification System: M31
Este estudo liga dois grandes temas, o Marketing e o comportamento do consumidor. Mais detalhadamente implica duas vertentes interessantes dos temas anteriores, o Marketing Olfactivo e a lealdade do consumidor, respectivamente. O foco principal que se pretendeu avaliar nesta pesquisa foi perceber se o Marketing Olfactivo no ponto de venda tem influência na lealdade dos clientes. Esta pesquisa procurou recolher respostas para a questão que se apresenta nesta dissertação através da realização de um questionário Online. Toda a investigação teve como base os resultados obtidos através do questionário feito a uma amostra de 390 pessoas. O centro de investigação foi a cadeia de lojas Zara Home que pratica este tipo de Marketing. O requisito principal para responder a este questionário online via página da Zara Home do Facebook, era de o inquirido já ter realizado alguma compra neste grupo de lojas. Como não foi possível obter uma amostra aleatória optou-se por utilizar o processo de amostragem por conveniência. Após a realização do questionário, os resultados obtidos foram analisados chegando-se à conclusão que o Marketing Olfactivo tem influência na lealdade dos consumidores.
This study connects two main themes, the Marketing and the Consumer Behaviour. In more detail, it implies two interesting aspects of the previous themes, the Olfactory Marketing and Consumer Loyalty. The main focus intended to evaluate is to understand if Olfactory Marketing at the point of sale can have any influence on the clients’ loyalty. This research tries to collect answers for the question presented on this dissertation through the elaboration of an online survey. All the investigation is based on the results obtained through the online survey made to a sample of 390 people. The investi gation center of this study was the chain of stores Zara Home which practices Olfactory Marketing. The main requirement to answer the online survey through the Zara Home Facebook page was that the respondent should have already made some kind of shopping in this group of stores. As it was not possible to obtain a random sample, the option was to use the Convenience Sampling Process. After the elaboration of the survey and collecting the answers, the results obtained are analysed, leading to the conclusion t hat the Olfactory Marketing has influence on the Customers’ loyalty.

This study focuses on two main themes, Scent Marketing and Consumer Behavior. The main objective is to evaluate whether the implementation of a pleasant odor has an impact on consumer behavior at the point of sale. This research collected answers for the question presented, through the elaboration of a questionnaire to evaluate if the introduction of a pleasant scent impacted, in a positive way, the intention to revisit the store, the overall store image, the perceived environmental quality of the store, the overall evaluation of the products and the satisfaction with the employees. The study started on June 5th and ended on July 8th of 2019. The first two weeks the experience took place at the Worten Mobile at Amadora and the last two weeks were in the Worten Megastore at Amadora. To have more stable results, the stimulus was programmed to be switched on one day and switched off the consecutive day. The data analysis allowed to conclude that the introduction of a scent considered pleasant, in a store environment influences positively the store sales, the overall store image, the perceived environmental quality of the store, the overall evaluation of the products and the satisfaction with the staff. With the analysis it was also possible to conclude that the scent decreases the perception of time.
Este estudo centra-se em dois temas principais, o Marketing Aromático e o Comportamento do Consumidor. O objetivo principal foi avaliar se a implementação de um aroma considerado agradável tem impacto no comportamento do consumidor no ponto de venda. Esta pesquisa reuniu respostas para a questão por meio da elaboração de um questionário para avaliar se a introdução de um aroma agradável impactou, de forma positiva, a intenção de revisitar a loja, a imagem geral da loja, a qualidade percecionada do ambiente da loja, a avaliação global dos produtos e a satisfação com os funcionários. O estudo começou no dia 5 de junho e terminou no dia 4 de julho de 2019. As duas primeiras semanas foram na Worten Mobile na Amadora e as duas últimas semanas foram na Worten Mega na Amadora. Para obter resultados mais estáveis, o estímulo foi programado para estar presente num dia e não estar no dia consecutivo. Depois do estudo experimental as análises provaram que a introdução de um aroma considerado agradável, influencia positivamente as vendas, a imagem geral da loja, a qualidade percecionada do ambiente de loja, a avaliação geral dos produtos e a satisfação com os empregados da loja. Também foi possível concluir que o aroma diminui a perceção do tempo.

Smell is arguably the most impactful of the 5 senses since scent has close ties with emotion and memory. As a result many retailers infuse their stores with scents to alter a consumer’s impression of the environment. However, to date very little research has investigated whether scent can alter an individual’s perception of crowdedness. Spatial crowding is a huge issue for many stores because a crowded environment can induce anxiety and negative emotions in consumers. Thus, the present study examines whether scent can be used to impact a consumer’s perception of spatial crowding, and whether scent and crowdedness interact to influence anxiety levels. Furthermore, the present study examines whether scent influences the spatial size of objects. This theory was tested in an experimental research study where 120 participants were asked to judge the volume of six containers and the size of room they were in. Participants were randomly placed in the no scent, spacious scent, or intimate scent condition. The test room was either crowded or not crowded. The results show that participants in the crowded condition, versus the not crowded condition, perceived the room as smaller and had lower room evaluations. In addition, participants in the crowded condition had higher levels of anxiety, however an intimate scent enhanced anxiety while a spacious scent reduced anxiety for those in the crowded room. In conclusion, managers should consider using scents in a crowded environment to reduce anxiety levels, but managers should be cautious to use an appropriate scent.

博士
國立臺灣大學
食品科技研究所
100
Literatures indicated that the scent of grapefruit oil and lavender oil could decrease / increase appetite in the rats. Limonene and linalool, the major component of grapefruit oil and lavender oil, demonstrated similar results. It is also known that the secretion of neuropeptide Y (NPY) can regulate appetite. Therefore, we suspect that NPY could be induced by aroma compound in olfactory cells, thus affecting food intake behavior of animals. On the other hand, leptin is synthesised by adipocytes in proportion to the level of stored triglycerides. Contrary to NPY, it is the key hormone of decreasing food intake and energy expenditure. This study aimed to establish an in vitro NPY mRNA expression model for screening essences to determine if they are appetite stimulator or inhibitor. We cultured the olfactory nerve cells Rolf B1.T for 2 days, and then treated the cells with the known appetite inhibitor s-(-)-limonene and stimulator (+/-)-Linalool. It was found that (+/-)-Linalool could significantly stimulate NPY mRNA expression in 10 minutes, and limonene had opposite effect. Similar results were also found in primary olfactory ensheathing cells isolated from rats. Further clinical trials using human subjects found that when 10 min treatment was applied, (+/-)-Linalool indeed increased serum NPY level in human peripheral blood. S-(-)-limonene, on the other hand, decreased serum NPY level. Thus, NPY mRNA expression in Rolf B1.T cells could be used as an in vitro model for screening essences which may affect appetite. Further clinical trials were conducted to investigate several flavor compounds on all of the important appetite factors, including NPY, leptin, orexin A, orexin B and insulin in different experimental period (5, 10, 15 mins) and the results were as follows: 1) when the experimental period were 5, 10 and 15 min, (-)-α-Pinene could increase serum NPY level, indicating that it is a potent stimulators of food intake, 2) when the experimental period was 10min, (-)-α-Pinene could increase serum insulin, Orexin A and Orexin B level. Blood pressure and ear temperature of the subjects were not significantly changed at any experimental time. The results of questionnaire indicated that after 10 min of smelling, the appetite factors Orexin B and NPY could be used as the appetite indicators.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2007.
Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-06, Section: B, page: 3581. Advisers: Esmail Meisami; Philip Best. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 98-117) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.