Auditory modulation in odor discrimination: A neuropsychological approach within a cultural context

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between auditory stimuli and odor discrimination performance within the framework of multisensory integration. The aim is to evaluate the effects of different background sounds during a cognitively demanding odor discrimination task and to determine whether these effects are associated with cognitive functions such as verbal memory and interference control. The study also discusses how auditory stimuli differing in verbal content and emotional valence may influence odor discrimination performance within the cultural and socio-environmental context of a Turkish sample. Twenty participants performed the Sniffin Sticks odor discrimination task under different auditory conditions, including silence, party noise, podcast, pleasant music, and unpleasant music. The findings showed statistically significant differences in odor discrimination performance among auditory conditions. Performance was highest under the silence condition, whereas the lowest performance was observed under the podcast condition. Verbal auditory content may increase cognitive load, whereas music with different emotional valence may influence memory-related olfactory processing. The findings highlight the need to consider environmental sound characteristics when examining cognitive abilities in multisensory contexts. From a cultural and social perspective, sensory integration processes may be related to individuals’ cultural environment and social noise norms. Future research combining neuroimaging techniques with comprehensive neurocognitive assessments could further clarify the mechanisms underlying auditory-olfactory integration.

Keywords

• Background sound
• cognition
• odor discrimination
• olfaction

Koku ayırt etmede işitsel modülasyon: Kültürel bağlamda nöropsikolojik bir yaklaşım

Abstract

Bu çalışma, işitsel uyaranlar ile koku ayırt etme performansı arasındaki ilişkiyi çoklu duyusal bütünleşme çerçevesinde incelemektedir. Amaç, bilişsel açıdan zorlayıcı bir koku ayırt etme görevi sırasında farklı arka plan seslerinin performans üzerindeki etkisini değerlendirmek ve bu etkinin sözel bellek ile enterferans kontrolü gibi bilişsel işlevlerle ilişkisini belirlemektir. Çalışma ayrıca, işitsel uyaranların sözel içerik ve duygusal valans bakımından farklılaşmasının koku ayırt etme performansına nasıl yansıyabileceğini Türkiye örneklemi bağlamında kültürel ve sosyal çevresel değişkenlerle birlikte tartışmaktadır. Yirmi katılımcı; sessizlik, parti gürültüsü, podcast, hoş müzik ve hoş olmayan müzik gibi farklı işitsel koşullar altında Sniffin Sticks koku ayırt etme görevini yerine getirmiştir. Bulgular, işitsel koşullar arasında koku ayırt etme performansında istatistiksel olarak anlamlı farklar olduğunu göstermiştir. Özellikle sessizlik koşulunda elde edilen performans diğer işitsel ortamlara kıyasla daha yüksek çıkarken, en düşük performans podcast koşulunda gözlemlenmiştir. Sözel içerikli uyaranların bilişsel yükü artırabileceği, duygusal valansı farklılaşan müzik uyaranlarının ise bellekle ilişkili olfaktör işlemeyi etkileyebileceği düşünülmektedir. Bulgular, çoklu duyusal bağlamlarda bilişsel yetilerin incelenmesinde çevresel ses özelliklerinin dikkate alınmasının gerekliliğine işaret etmektedir. Kültürel ve sosyal açıdan değerlendirildiğinde, bireylerin duyusal bütünleşme süreçlerinin yetiştikleri kültürel çevre ve sosyal gürültü normlarıyla ilişkili olabileceği görülmektedir. Gelecekte yapılacak nörogörüntüleme ve kapsamlı nörobilişsel değerlendirme çalışmaları, işitsel-koku bütünleşmesinin altında yatan mekanizmaları daha ayrıntılı biçimde aydınlatabilir.

Keywords

• Arka plan sesi
• biliş
• koku ayırt etme
• olfaktör

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