The nature and duration of adaptation following long-term odor exposure

Any individual living or working in an odorous environment can experience changes in odor perception, some of which are long lasting. Often, these individuals report a significant reduction in the perception of an odor following long-term exposure to that odor (adaptation). Yet, most experimental analyses of olfactory adaptation use brief odorant exposures which may not typify real-world experiences. Using a procedure combining long-term odor exposure in a naturalistic setting with psychophysical tests in the laboratory, we present evidence to show that reduced odor intensity following long-term exposure is accompanied by odorant-specific shifts in threshold. Subjects were exposed continuously to one of two odorants while in their home for a period of 2 weeks. Exposure produced an odorant-specific reduction in sensitivity and perceived intensity compared with preexposure baselines: Detection thresholds for the adapting odorant were elevated following exposure and perceived intensity ratings for weak concentrations were reduced. For most individuals, reduced sensitivity to the test odorant was still evident up to 2 weeks following the last exposure. The persistence of the change, as evidenced by the duration of recovery from adaptation, distinguishes this phenomenon from the adaptation seen following shorter exposures and highlights the need for the study of exposure durations that are more similar to real-world exposures.