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- Title
Olfactomotor activity during imagery mimics that during perception.
- Authors
Bensafi, Moustafa; Porter, Jessica; Pouliot, Sandra; Mainland, Joel; Johnson, Bradley; Zelano, Christina; Young, Nathasa; Bremmer, Elizabeth; Aframian, Danny; Khan, Rehan; Sobel, Noam
- 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.
- Subjects
NEUROPHYSIOLOGY; SMELL; SENSORY perception
- Publication
Nature Neuroscience, 2003, Vol 6, Issue 11, p1142
- ISSN
1097-6256
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1038/nn1145