Abstract
The study aimed to investigate possible differences in lateralized olfactory processing in left- and right-handed subjects using a functional MRI paradigm. Twenty-four (14 female, 10 male) right-handers and 24 (14 female, 10 male) left-handers participated; their mean age was 24.0 years, all were in excellent health with no indication of any major nasal or other health problems. The rose-like odor phenyl ethyl alcohol and the smell of rotten eggs (H2S) were used for relatively specific olfactory activation in a block design using a 1.5-T MR scanner. Results indicated no major differences in lateralized olfactory activation between left- and right-handers. This suggests that in simple olfactory tasks, handedness does not seem to play a substantial role in the processing of olfactory information.
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Lübke, K., Gottschlich, M., Gerber, J. et al. No Effects of Handedness on Passive Processing of Olfactory Stimuli: An FMRI Study. Chem. Percept. 5, 22–26 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12078-011-9115-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12078-011-9115-3