Title: | Dynamics of nasal irritation from pulsed homologous alcohols |
Author(s): | Wise PM; Zhao K; Wysocki CJ; |
Address: | "Monell Chemical Senses Center, 3500 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104-3308, USA. pwise@monell.org" |
ISSN/ISBN: | 1464-3553 (Electronic) 0379-864X (Print) 0379-864X (Linking) |
Abstract: | "Relatively, few studies have focused on how nasal irritation changes over time. To simulate the rhythm of natural respiration, subjects received 3-s pulses of volatile organic compounds interspersed with 3-s pulses of clean air. Each trial, subjects received 9 pulses of a chemical vapor over about 1 min. Subjects rated nasal irritation from each pulse using magnitude estimation. Within a trial, compound and concentration were fixed. Compound (ethanol, n-butanol, or n-hexanol) and concentration (4 levels for each compound) varied across trials. For all stimuli, rated irritation decreased over time (adaptation). Plots of log-rated intensity versus elapsed time were approximately linear (intensity decreased by a fixed ratio per unit time). Interestingly, the slopes of intensity versus time functions differed very little: Regardless of concentration and compound, rated irritation decreased by about 32% over the 9 pulses. The basic mechanism of short-term adaptation may be the same for the 3 alcohols studied. Regardless, these data suggest that very simple models might be able to describe some aspects of perceptual dynamics quite well" |
Keywords: | 1-Butanol/*pharmacology Adult Alcohols/pharmacology Analysis of Variance Female Hexanols/*pharmacology Humans Irritants/pharmacology Male Nasal Mucosa/*drug effects Sensory Thresholds/drug effects Young Adult; |
Notes: | "MedlineWise, Paul M Zhao, Kai Wysocki, Charles J eng 5P50DC006760/DC/NIDCD NIH HHS/ 5R03ES013969/ES/NIEHS NIH HHS/ Randomized Controlled Trial Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't England 2010/09/23 Chem Senses. 2010 Nov; 35(9):823-9. doi: 10.1093/chemse/bjq086. Epub 2010 Sep 21" |