Eating without a nose: Olfactory dysfunction and sensory-specific satiety

R.C. Havermans*, J. Hermanns, Anita Jansen

*Corresponding author for this work

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Abstract

Odor stimuli play an important role in the perception of food flavor. Olfactory dysfunction is thus likely to affect eating behavior. In the present study, we hypothesized that dysfunctional olfactory perception promotes sensory-specific satiety, a decrease in pleasure derived from a certain test food during and shortly after its consumption relative to other unconsumed control foods. A total of 34 hyposmic/anosmic participants were compared with 29 normosmic control participants. All participants repeatedly consumed a fixed portion of one and the same food item, a procedure known to induce sensory satiation. We found evidence for sensory-specific satiety (SSS) regardless of olfactory function. It thus appears that olfactory deficits have no major effect on SSS.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)735-741
Number of pages7
JournalChemical Senses
Volume35
Issue number8
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Oct 2010

Keywords

  • ANOSMIA
  • APPETITE
  • BULIMIA-NERVOSA
  • DEPRESSION
  • DISCRIMINATION
  • FOOD-INTAKE
  • HEAD-INJURY
  • ODOR IDENTIFICATION
  • PERCEPTIONS
  • QUALITY-OF-LIFE
  • anosmia
  • hyposmia
  • sensory-specific satiety

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