Demographic and geographical determinants of human olfactory perception of 909 individuals inhabiting 16 regions

The hedonic perception of odors is similar worldwide. However, our perception of smells is much more than just determining whether an odor is pleasant or not. Here, we expanded this assessment by recruiting 909 people from 16 regions of the world and measuring 12 perceptual dimensions (e.g., pleasantness, intensity, edibility), which were aggregated into an olfactory perceptual fingerprint. We used two fingerprints: descriptor-specific and odor-specific. Age, gender, and region explained 1.1%, 0.3%, and 9.6% of variance in the descriptor-specific fingerprints, respectively. Similarly, age, gender, and region explained 0.5%, 0.3%, and 8.2% of variance in the odor-specific fingerprints. Interestingly, odor intensity was more regionally dependent than pleasantness. Thus, olfactory perception across the globe may be better differentiated by odor intensity than pleasantness. Although there is some influence of individual and cultural backgrounds, human perception of odors appears to be quite similar worldwide, even when assessed using 12 perceptual dimensions.

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Publication Details

Journal
iScience
Published
2025-09-23
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2025.113455
Primary Topic
Olfactory and Sensory Function Studies
Type
article
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article

Demographic and geographical determinants of human olfactory perception of 909 individuals inhabiting 16 regions

Barbara Żyżelewicz, Nixon M. Abraham, Gregory N. Bratman, Jancy Nixon Abraham et al.
iScience
Olfactory and Sensory Function Studies
article

Demographic and geographical determinants of human olfactory perception of 909 individuals inhabiting 16 regions

Barbara Żyżelewicz, Nixon M. Abraham, Gregory N. Bratman, Jancy Nixon Abraham, Anna Kristina Hernandez, Fiona Wylie, Jayant M. Pinto, Çağdaş Güdücü, Farhad Rafiei, Asifa Majid, Johannes Frasnelli, Rafieh Alizadeh, A. A. Musa, Eva Drnovšek, Carla Masala, Dinesh Rawat, Natália Medeiros Dias Lopes, Francesco Loy, Marjan Mirsalehi, Laiquan Zou, Ayaho Yoshino, Anna Oleszkiewicz, Hsuan‐Chen Wu, Salina Husain, Michał Pieniak, Ahmed G. Radwan, Lixin Chen, Mehmet K. Mahmut, I. Miri, Marco Aurélio Fornazieri, Henrique Ochoa Scussiatto, Marlise K. Hofer, Thomas R. Hummel, Maria Lourdes Berioso Enecilla, Sharanya Thodupunoori, Fatima Gansatao, Aleksandra Reichert, Reda Kamel, Patricia Portillo Mazal, Brianna J. Turner, I. Aloulou, Daniel Marek, Élizabeth Michaluk, Plamena Miteva, Keigo Nakaachi, Hozifa Alsaid Sheta, Juan Martin Fuselli, Hanène Naija, Vitoria F Khouri
article en

Abstract

The hedonic perception of odors is similar worldwide. However, our perception of smells is much more than just determining whether an odor is pleasant or not. Here, we expanded this assessment by recruiting 909 people from 16 regions of the world and measuring 12 perceptual dimensions (e.g., pleasantness, intensity, edibility), which were aggregated into an olfactory perceptual fingerprint. We used two fingerprints: descriptor-specific and odor-specific. Age, gender, and region explained 1.1%, 0.3%, and 9.6% of variance in the descriptor-specific fingerprints, respectively. Similarly, age, gender, and region explained 0.5%, 0.3%, and 8.2% of variance in the odor-specific fingerprints. Interestingly, odor intensity was more regionally dependent than pleasantness. Thus, olfactory perception across the globe may be better differentiated by odor intensity than pleasantness. Although there is some influence of individual and cultural backgrounds, human perception of odors appears to be quite similar worldwide, even when assessed using 12 perceptual dimensions.

iScienceVol. 28(10)
Universidade Estadual de Londrina (BR), Cairo University (EG), Iran University of Medical Sciences (IR), University of Cagliari (IT), Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná (BR), Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Pune (IN), Dokuz Eylül University (TR), University of Washington (US), University of Victoria (CA), University of Wrocław (PL), Shiv Nadar University (IN), Philippine General Hospital (PH), Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires (AR), University of Oxford (GB), University of Chicago (US), East Avenue Medical Center (PH), Centro de Excelência em Bioinformática (BR), National Heritage Institute (TN), St. Luke's Medical Center (PH), Institute of Psychology (PL), Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Cagliari (IT), University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus (DE), Southern Medical University (CN), Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (CA), Technische Universität Dresden (DE), Nippon Medical School (JP), Manouba University (TN), National University of Malaysia (MY), Macquarie University (AU)
Openalex Percentile: Top 75%
Olfactory and Sensory Function Studies
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