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No Effects of Handedness on Passive Processing of Olfactory Stimuli: An FMRI Study

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Chemosensory Perception

Abstract

The study aimed to investigate possible differences in lateralized olfactory processing in left- and right-handed subjects using a functional MRI paradigm. Twenty-four (14 female, 10 male) right-handers and 24 (14 female, 10 male) left-handers participated; their mean age was 24.0 years, all were in excellent health with no indication of any major nasal or other health problems. The rose-like odor phenyl ethyl alcohol and the smell of rotten eggs (H2S) were used for relatively specific olfactory activation in a block design using a 1.5-T MR scanner. Results indicated no major differences in lateralized olfactory activation between left- and right-handers. This suggests that in simple olfactory tasks, handedness does not seem to play a substantial role in the processing of olfactory information.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Experimental Psychology, Department for Biological Psychology and Social Psychology, Heinrich-Heine-University of Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany

    Katrin Lübke & Bettina M. Pause

  2. Smell & Taste Clinic, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University of Dresden Medical School, Fetscherstrasse 74, 01307, Dresden, Germany

    Katrin Lübke, Marie Gottschlich & Thomas Hummel

  3. Department of Neuroradiology, University of Dresden Medical School, Dresden, Germany

    Johannes Gerber

Authors
  1. Katrin Lübke
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  2. Marie Gottschlich
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  3. Johannes Gerber
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  4. Bettina M. Pause
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  5. Thomas Hummel
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Correspondence to Thomas Hummel.

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Lübke, K., Gottschlich, M., Gerber, J. et al. No Effects of Handedness on Passive Processing of Olfactory Stimuli: An FMRI Study. Chem. Percept. 5, 22–26 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12078-011-9115-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12078-011-9115-3

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