Presentation Details
| Odor Concentration Shapes Odor-Taste Mixture Preference and Retronasal Detection in Rats Caitlin J.White, Timothy V.Dong, Dinna N.Ferreria, Chad L.Samuelsen. University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, USA |
Abstract
Human psychophysical studies demonstrate fundamental interactions between odors and tastes that give rise to flavor perception, with odor concentration modulating perceived intensity and pleasantness and enabling detection of otherwise subthreshold components. However, in rodents, it remains unclear how odor concentration influences odor-taste mixture preference or what perceptual limits constrain retronasal odor detection. To address this, we conducted two behavioral experiments. First, we used a two-bottle brief-access task in female rats to assess preference among odor-taste mixtures in which taste concentration was held constant (0.1 M sucrose) while odor concentration varied (0.001%, 0.01%, 0.1%). Rats consistently preferred mixtures containing lower odor concentrations, indicating that odor concentration systematically influences consummatory choice in odor-taste mixtures. Because odors in orally consumed mixtures are sampled retronasally, defining retronasal perceptual limits is crucial for understanding multisensory influences on mixture preference. We assessed retronasal odor detection using a modified two-response operant task. Rats discriminated water from odorized-water sampled from a vacuum-surrounded spout designed to minimize orthonasal contamination. Performance was measured across descending odor concentrations until accuracy declined to chance. Preliminary psychometric functions indicate that retronasal detection thresholds occur at higher nominal concentrations than those reported for orthonasal detection, reflecting differences in stimulus phase and volatilization. Together, these experiments demonstrate that odor concentration modulates odor-taste mixture preference and establish retronasal detection thresholds that shape how odor influences consummatory behavior.
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No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author.
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