Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 26, 2026

An Olfactory Preference Test for Measuring Olfactory Hedonic Biases in Mouse Models of Depression
Published on: July 11, 2025
Perceptual, affective, and cognitive judgments of odors: pleasantness and handedness effects
Moustafa Bensafi1, Catherine Rouby, Vincent Farget
1CNRS UMR 5020, Laboratoire de Neurosciences et Systèmes Sensoriels, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, 50 avenue Tony Garnier, 69366 Lyon Cedex 07, France. bensafi@olfac.univ-lyon1.fr
Abstract:
The present study sought to examine the differential processing of pleasant, neutral, and unpleasant odors. The effects of the nostril stimulated (left or right) and the type of judgment (perceptual, affective, or cognitive) performed on the olfactory stimuli were also studied. To this end, 64 subjects were asked to smell pleasant, neutral, and unpleasant odors under four conditions (detection, intensity, pleasantness, and familiarity tasks). The participants were to perform these tasks as quickly as possible, while response times were recorded. The results showed that (i) unpleasant odors were assessed more rapidly than neutral or pleasant odors, and that this was specifically true (ii) during right nostril stimulation, and (iii) during pleasantness assessment, suggesting possible differential cerebral hemisphere involvement, with a right-side advantage for processing of unpleasant affect in olfaction. A handedness effect on familiarity judgment is also discussed.
Related Concept Videos
The Influence of Affect on Cognition
Factors Affecting Perception
An illustrative example of a perceptual set is the scenario where an airline pilot told...
Olfaction
The olfactory receptors are embedded in the cilia of the...
Halo Effect
Tactile and Chemical Senses
Role of Affect in Interpersonal Attraction

