An olfactory analogy to release from mixture suppression in taste

Abstract

In perceptually analyzable two-component odor mixtures, the perceived intensity of each component is reduced, relative to its intensity in equally concentrated unmixed stimuli. This is an example of odor counteraction, or masking. When the intensity of one component is reduced through adaptation, several sources of evidence suggest that the other component should be released from masking and increase in perceived intensity. Investigation of two-component mixtures of vanillin and cinnamaldehyde snowed such a release-from-odor-masking effect. After the subjects’ adaptation to vanillin, the cinnamon component of the mixture increased in perceived intensity, relative to its partially masked intensity in the mixture. A similar increase was observed for vanillin in the mixture, after the subjects’ adaptation to cinnamaldehyde. This effect is consistent with a central physiological mechanism for odor masking. © 1987, The Psychonomic Soceity, Inc.. All rights reserved.