| Title: | Central Nervous System Processing of Floral Odor and Mother's Milk Odor in Infants |
| Author(s): | Gellrich J; Breuer AS; Han P; Guducu C; Hummel T; Schriever VA; |
| Address: | "Klinik und Poliklinik fur Kinder- und Jugendmedizin, Medizinische Fakultat Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universitat Dresden, Fetscherstrasse 74, 01307 Dresden, Germany. Abteilung Neuropadiatrie, Klinik und Poliklinik fur Kinder- und Jugendmedizin, Medizinische Fakultat Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universitat Dresden, Fetscherstrasse 74, 01307 Dresden, Germany. Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, No. 2 Tiansheng Road Beibei District, Chongqing 400715, P.R., China. Smell and Taste Clinic, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Medizinische Fakultat Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universitat Dresden, Fetscherstrasse 74, 01307 Dresden, Germany. Department of Biophysics, Faculty of Medicine, Dokuz Eylul University, Alsancak, No: 144 35210, Cumhuriyet Blv, 35220 Konak, Izmir, Turkey. Center for Chronically Sick Children (Sozialpadiatrisches Zentrum), Charite-Universitatsmedizin Berlin, Charitepl. 1, 10117 Berlin, Germany. Department of Pediatric Neurology, Charite-Universitatsmedizin Berlin, Mittelallee 8, 13353 Berlin, Germany" |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1464-3553 (Electronic) 0379-864X (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Newborns have a functioning sense of smell at birth, which appears to be highly significant for feeding and bonding. Still, little is known about the cerebral odor processing in this age group. Studies of olfactory function relied mostly on behavioral, autonomic, and facial responses of infants. The aim of the present study was to investigate central odor processing in infants focusing on electroencephalography (EEG)-derived responses to biologically significant odors, namely a food and a non-food odor. A total of 21 term-born, healthy infants participated (11 boys and 10 girls; age range 2-9 months, mean 5.3 +/- 2.2 months). Odor stimuli were presented using a computer-controlled olfactometer. Breast milk was used as food odor. Farnesol was presented as a non-food odor. In addition, odorless air was used as a control stimulus. Each stimulus was presented 30 times for 1 s with an interstimulus interval of 20 s. EEG was recorded from 9 electrodes and analyzed in the frequency domain. EEG amplitudes in the delta frequency band differed significantly after presentation of food (breast milk) odor in comparison to the control condition and the non-food odor (farnesol). These changes were observed at the frontal recording positions. The present study indicates that central odor processing differs between a food and a non-food odor in infants. Results are interpreted in terms of focused attention towards a physiologically relevant odor (breast milk), suggesting that olfactory stimuli are of specific significance in this age group" |
| Keywords: | "Central Nervous System/*physiology Female Humans Infant Male Milk, Human/*chemistry Mothers *Odorants Smell/*physiology breast milk odor fast Fourier transformation infants olfaction;" |
| Notes: | "MedlineGellrich, Janine Breuer, Anna Sophie Han, Pengfei Guducu, Cagdas Hummel, Thomas Schriever, Valentin A eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't England 2021/05/19 Chem Senses. 2021 Jan 1; 46:bjab024. doi: 10.1093/chemse/bjab024" |
