Abstract
The somewhat commonplace idea that odors are closely connected to emotion has been supported by experimental findings that some specific chemicals activate olfactory receptors to generate neural messages sent to the olfactory centers sharing parts of the limbic system involved in emotional experience. Odors are said to influence mood, elicit intense experiences of pleasure or displeasure, and evoke remote emotional memories. This makes us presume that effects of fragrances might manifest themselves to some extent as a function of person: emotion systems might work as an internal moderator in the regulation of odor perception. This suggests that fragrances would have an indirect effect via some "emotion filter" on the performance of tasks, on mood, and so on. Thus, it is difficult to gain as real understanding of the nature of odor perception without taking some underlying characteristic of smelling into careful consideration, even though we could introduce a variety of indices associated with response systems of affective experiences, performance, and physiological activities. This report focused on distinctive features of odor perception and its measurement before referring to hedonic effects on performance.
