| Budget Amount *help |
¥2,200,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,200,000)
Fiscal Year 2003: ¥500,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000)
Fiscal Year 2002: ¥500,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000)
Fiscal Year 2001: ¥1,200,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,200,000)
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| Research Abstract |
I.Fundamental Aspects of odor perception
(1)Sensory Test : Based on perceptional change of fragrance of essential oils, a sensory test for perceptional changes of the fragrance of essential oils was developed in relation to type of work, that is, mental work, physical work and hearing environmental (natural) sounds. In evaluating change in perception of a given aroma, perception of fragrance was assessed by 13 contrasting pairs of adjectives and scores were recorded after inhaling a fragrance before and after each type of work. The statistical significance of the change of score for 13 impression descriptors was then examined by Student's t-test for each type of work.
(2)Sensory Test for Optically Active Linalools : In order to make clear whether odor perception depend on enantiometric structure or not, attempts were made for enantiomers of linalool, that is (R)-(-)-, (S)-(+)-and (RS)-(±)-forms, in terms of sensory tests. The sensory profiling study using sensory evaluation spectrums rev
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ealed that enantiomers could be regarded to be significantly different odors with dependence not only on species of enantiomer but also on tasks assigned to the subjects.
(3)Repeatability Test of the Measurements : Repeatability of the measure was tested in terms of sensory evaluation spectrums. The obtained results suggest that the measure showed a good repeatability and could be useful in assessing changes in the perception of essential oil fragrances.
II.Fundamental Aspects of Odor Responses : The effects on humans inhaling the fragrance of essential oils were examined in terms of a multi-channel skin thermometer study and a portable forehead surface electroencephalographic (IBVA-EEG) measurement. The essential oils examined were those of basil and peppermint vs. mental work, linalool and peppermint each vs. mental work and hearing environmental sounds, because our previous sensory test had indicated an opposite sensory spectrum under these circumstances. These imply that the inhalation of linalool or peppermint cause a different odor reaction, depending on the type of work assigned to the subjects (i.e.,mental work or hearing environmental sounds).
IlI.Conclusion : Our findings thus indicated some important aspects of the salience of odors, as neurophysiological stimuli, which cause a different perception and lead a diverse odor reaction with dependence on internal and extraneous conditions of the subject. Less
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