Name: olfactory context dependent memory: direct presentation of odorants
Uploaded: 2018-09-18T13:30:00
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Olfactory Context Dependent Memory: Direct Presentation of Odorants at JoVE.com

The authors have no acknowledgements.

All data collection in the original experiment15 was performed in accordance with the ethical guidelines of the American Psychological Association as well as the World Medical Association&#8217;s Declaration of Helsinki. The experiment was preapproved by the local Ethik-Kommission (equivalent to an Institutional Review Board). All subjects were made aware that their participation was voluntary and could at any time and without fear of penalty be terminated. All subjects signed informed consent.</p...

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The method described here, in which an olfactometer is used to directly present odorants as contextual stimuli, represents an expansion of the utility of olfactometers in olfactory memory research16,17. Specifically, this method allows for an expansion of the area of OCDM research. Previous research had shown that odors are indeed effective contextual mnemonic cues4,14, but all research to this point has ...

Retrieval is enhanced when it occurs in the same context as encoding1,2; this is termed context dependent memory (CDM). Many stimuli have been shown to be effective contextual cues for enhancing retrieval3. In line with this general research, it has been shown that information that is learned and retrieved in the presence of the same odor is remembered better than information that is retrieved in the presence of a different odor4 or information that is neither learned nor retrieved in the presence of an extra olfactory context5; this has been termed olfactory context dependent memory (OCDM).
The use of odors as contextual mnemonic cues provides researchers with new opportunities to investigate various questions related to both CDM and olfactory processing. Indeed, the relationship between olfaction and memory has been shown to be unique6,7,8. Memories for odors seem to be more resistant to forgetting than memory for other stimuli6 (though this is not always found9). Furthermore, autobiographical memories that are cued by odors are experienced differently than autobiographical memories cued by other stimuli7.
There are other interesting differences between olfaction and the &#34;major&#34; (i.e., visual and auditory) senses. For example, when humans see or hear stimuli, we are frequently able to explicitly identify them and we often consciously adjust our behavior in line with the information they present. However, we are frequently unable to identify odors10. Furthermore, although humans are constantly surrounded by odorous substances, we do not always have the conscious experience of perceiving an odor. Accordingly, it has been proposed that olfaction is an implicit sense, and that odors mostly influence our behavior when we do not consciously perceive them11.
If olfaction truly is an implicit sense, it poses the question as to whether odors must necessarily be outside the focus of awareness for them to act as effective contextual mnemonic cues. Some evidence would suggest this is the case, as odors have been shown to be less effective cues in paired-associates paradigms then other stimuli12,13. To this point all studies that have shown evidence of OCDM have utilized ambient presentation of odorants, whereby the odorants are presented in the background and subjects learn some other target information4,14. Often, the subjects are never explicitly told about the odors.
The focus on ambient odorant presentation up to this point has been logical, as odorants are generally present in the background of an experience, but odors are infrequently at the center of our attentional focus. That being said, ambient odorant presentation necessarily means that researchers relinquish control over some aspects that may be of interest. Chief among these aspects is time. With ambient presentation odorants must be present for a long period of time, with no control over the moment of presentation or odor perception. However, presenting odorants directly, for example with the aid of an olfactometer, allows the researcher to manipulate the time of the odorant presentation in relation to the onset time of other stimuli. Further aspects of control that are gained through direct presentation include the ability to alternate between two or more odorants during a single session, presentation to one or both nostrils, presentation of &#34;no odor&#34; trials, and even the ability to manipulate the intensity of odor/concentration of odorant. In short, ambient odorant presentation limits experimenters to between subjects or block-wise manipulations, while direct odorant presentation allows for odor manipulations on a trial by trial basis.
Here the fundamentals of a method for testing OCDM using direct presentation of odorants with the aid of an olfactometer are presented15. An olfactometer is a machine that allows for the presentation of odorants at exact points in time (for example, contemporaneously with the onset of the presentation of a visual stimulus) and for a discrete amount of time (e.g., the presentation of a puff of air for 2 s). Furthermore, the olfactometer allows for the presentation to be directed below the nostrils, directly in one nostril, or directly in both nostrils. Olfactometers have long been utilized in memory research16,17. This protocol builds on previous research and applies it to the area of OCDM research.

<table>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>Olfactometer</td>
			<td>Burghart Messtechnik</td>
			<td>OG001</td>
			<td>Discrete presentation olfactometer</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Odiferous material_Onion</td>
			<td>Burghart Messtechnik</td>
			<td>LA-13-00236</td>
			<td>Liquid used in olfactometer to produce onion odor</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Odiferous material_Peach</td>
			<td>Burghart Messtechnik</td>
			<td>LA-13-00245</td>
			<td>Liquid used in olfactometer to produce peach odor</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>E-Prime 2.0</td>
			<td>Psychology Software Tools</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>Experiment control software</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

olfactory context dependent memory: direct presentation of odorants

Information is retrieved more effectively when the retrieval occurs in the same context as that in which the information was first encoded. This is termed context dependent memory (CDM). One category of cues that have been shown to effectively produce CDM effects are odors. However, it is unclear what the boundary conditions of these CDM effects are. In particular, given that olfaction has been called an implicit sense, it is possible that odors are only effective mnemonic cues when they are presented in the background. This assertion seems even more likely given that previous research has shown odors to be poor cues during paired associate memory tests, where odors are in the focus of attention as mnemonic cues for other information. In order to determine whether odors are only effective contextual mnemonic cues when presented outside the central focus of an observer, an olfactory CDM experiment was performed in which odorants were presented directly, rather than ambiently. Direct presentation was accomplished with the aid of an olfactometer. The olfactometer not only allows for direct presentation of odorants, but provides other methodological benefits, including the allowance of trial by trial manipulations of odorant presentations and, relatedly, time-specific releases of odorants. The presence of the same odor during both encoding and retrieval enhanced memory performance, regardless of whether the odor was presented ambiently or directly. This finding can serve as a basis for future olfactory CDM research which can utilize the benefits of direct presentation.

One of the main purposes of the current experiment was to determine whether OCDM effects could be found when the olfactory context was presented directly, rather than ambiently. There were three main dependent variables (in line with common signal detection theory analyses26): the proportion of hits, the proportion of false alarms, and a corrected accuracy score termed d&#39;. Given the focus of interest here, the data from the two odor groups from the ori...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Olfactory Context Dependent Memory: Direct Presentation of Odorants at JoVE.com

Olfactory Context Dependent Memory: Direct Presentation of Odorants

The use of an olfactometer for directly presenting odorants opens exciting opportunities for researchers of olfactory memory. The current paper discusses issues related to this methodology as related to a previously published experiment on olfactory context dependent memory.

Information is retrieved more effectively when the retrieval occurs in the same context as that in which the information was first encoded. This is termed ...

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