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Retronasal and Oral-Cavity-Only Identifications of Air-Phase Trigeminal Stimuli

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Chemosensory Perception

Abstract

Oral-cavity-only (OCO) identifications of air-phase trigeminal stimulus chemicals, i.e., pure chemicals that are often discriminated from their solvents by anosmics and are usually lateralized without sniffing by normosmics, were compared with retronasal identifications made by 20 participants. Participants selected the best possible identification from nine alternatives, but did not respond if they could not provide an identification within the 10-s response interval. It was found that, except for dl-menthol, the frequencies of correct identifications for OCO presentations were significantly different from the frequencies for retronasal presentations. OCO percent correct identifications were: eugenol 7%, heptyl alcohol 5%, nonanal 10%, 1-octanal 18%, and valeric acid 20%, but 58% correct for dl-menthol. Median percent correct OCO identifications were all 0% except 67% for dl-menthol. Modal OCO identification responses were ‘no response’, except “peppermint” for dl-menthol. In contrast, retronasal overall percent correct identifications, median percent correct identifications, and modal identifications were: eugenol 78%, 100%, “cloves”; heptyl alcohol 49%, 67%, “cleaner”; nonanal 54%, 58%, “citrus”; 1-octanal 71%, 67%, “cleaner”; dl-menthol 80%, 100%, “peppermint”; valeric acid 66%, 67%, “rancid”. One implication of the differences between OCO and retronasal responses is that, for many trigeminal stimuli at retronasal-effective concentrations, responses from the oral cavity trigeminal sensory system are not sufficient for identification, suggesting that the oral cavity trigeminal system may be different from and generally provides less differential information than the nasal cavity one. However, because dl-menthol received consistent oral cavity identifications comparable to retronasal identifications, this ten-carbon alcohol may represent a unique class of trigeminal stimuli.

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Abbreviations

ANOVA:

Analysis of variance

df :

Degrees of freedom

ID:

Identification

OCO:

Oral-cavity-only

ODC:

Odorant delivery container

SIR:

Semi-interquartile range

TRPM8:

Transient receptor potential melastatine family 8

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the Cornell Institute of Food Science Summer Scholars Program, USDA Hatch NYC-191403, the Biological Sciences Honors Program, and a Susan Linn Sage Professorship. Thomas A. Cleland provided comments on a previous version of this manuscript.

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Author notes

  1. Vijal Parikh

    Present address: New York College of Osteopathic Medicine of New York Institute of Technology, Northern Boulevard, Old Westbury, NY, 11568-8000, USA

  2. Ai Ping Lee-Lim

    Present address: Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences, 504 East 81st Street, Apt 6H, New York, NY, 10028, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA

    Vijal Parikh

  2. Department of Biochemistry, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY, USA

    Ai Ping Lee-Lim

  3. Departments of Psychology and Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA

    Bruce P. Halpern

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  1. Vijal Parikh
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Correspondence to Bruce P. Halpern.

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Parikh, V., Lee-Lim, A.P. & Halpern, B.P. Retronasal and Oral-Cavity-Only Identifications of Air-Phase Trigeminal Stimuli. Chem. Percept. 2, 9–24 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12078-009-9038-4

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