Stress and odors

• Compared to our other senses, the sense of smell has a unique and anatomically direct pathway to the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal-axis which might have many important implicit and explicit functions in reducing stress. In a set of behavioral experiments, we pursued the hypothesis that the sense of smell could reduce psychophysiological measured stress, i.e. skin conductance levels (SCL), after a stress induction paradigm using weak electric shocks. In study one, we used the framework of attachment theory stating that an adult attachment figure should provide a relief and comfort if the individual is exposed to a stressful event. The results showed that such a relief and comfort can be achieved for the secure individuals by simply smelling their partner´s body odor. Presence of their partners body odor significantly reduced SCL compared to when smelling their own, a neutral or a positive odor. In study two, a multisensory paradigm with virtual reality was used to test whether odors uniquely reduce stress responses within three different environments; urban parks, forests and cities. Our findings showed that high psychological pleasantness was linked to low stress response for the olfactory and visual senses. Taken together these findings demonstrate that both social and environmental odors are able to provide stress release and further, provide a framework for understanding the underlying mechanisms of olfaction cues and stress.

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Psykologi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Psychology (hsv//eng)

Keyword

sense of smell

stress

skin conductance levels

attachment theory

partner's body odor

olfaction cues

Psychology

psykologi

Publication and Content Type

vet (subject category)

kon (subject category)