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Updated: Nov 7, 2025

Real-time In Vitro Monitoring of Odorant Receptor Activation by an Odorant in the Vapor Phase
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Olfactory Perception in Relation to the Physicochemical Odor Space.

Antonie Louise Bierling1,2, Ilona Croy2,3, Thomas Hummel4

  • 1Institute for Materials Science, Technische Universität Dresden, 01062 Dresden, Germany.

Brain Sciences
|April 30, 2021
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Summary

Researchers explored the link between odor molecules and human perception using a large dataset. While structure predicts perception on average, individual experiences show significant variations in how people smell.

Keywords:
molecule structureolfactory perceptionphysicochemical odor space

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Chemosensation
  • Computational Chemistry

Background:

  • The stimulus-percept problem in olfactory perception seeks to link molecular properties to perceived smells.
  • Existing computational models predict odor perception from physicochemical properties, but large-scale psychophysical data from non-experts are limited.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the relationship between the physicochemical properties of odor molecules and human olfactory perception.
  • To analyze psychophysical data from a large group of non-expert participants to understand olfactory perception variability.

Main Methods:

  • Developed a physicochemical odor space using 4094 molecular descriptors for 1389 odor molecules.
  • Collected perceptual ratings (pleasantness, intensity, quality, detection threshold) for 20 odors from 2000 naïve participants.
  • Correlated perceptual ratings with the dimensions of the physicochemical odor space.

Main Results:

  • Replicated previous findings associating perceptual ratings with the physicochemical odor space on a group level.
  • Observed significant interindividual variations in perceived pleasantness and intensity.
  • Identified interactions between pleasantness, intensity, and olfactory/trigeminal qualitative dimensions.

Conclusions:

  • Physicochemical odor space is a valuable tool for understanding olfactory stimuli structure-perception relationships in non-experts.
  • Individual olfactory perception is a complex, holistic process influenced by multisensory integration, context, and experience, not just molecular detection.