Presentation Details
| Olfactory meta-cognition is altered in individuals with anxiety and depressive symptoms Michal Pieniak1, 2, Fiona Wylie3, Michal Stefanczyk4, Mem Mahmut3. 1Institute of Psychology, University of Wroclaw, Wroclaw, Poland.2Smell & Taste Clinic, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany.3Food, Flavour, and Fragrance Lab, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.4Institute of Psychology, University College of Professional Education, Wroclaw, Poland |
Abstract
People experiencing anxiety and depressive symptoms perceive odors differently than healthy individuals. Depending on the mental disorder, olfactory sensitivity might be decreased or elevated. However, compared to psychophysical investigations, insights into meta-cognitive aspects of olfactory processing are poorly investigated in people with mental disorders. In a series of two studies, we verified how symptoms of generalized anxiety, social anxiety, depression, and olfactory reference disorder (ORD) are related to olfactory meta-cognition (body odor sniffing frequency, odor awareness, body odor disgust). Study 1 (n=215, Mage=21.82, SDage=6.45, 136 women, Australian) demonstrated that social (r=.16) and generalized (r=.17) anxiety symptoms, but not depressive symptoms, are weakly but significantly related to frequency of body odor sniffing. Study 2 (n=288, Mage=27.3, SDage=9.9, 186 women, Polish) partially replicated these findings showing relationship between social anxiety and body odor disgust (r=.20); generalized anxiety, odor awareness (r=.24), and body odor sniffing (r=.20); as well as between ORD, odor awareness (r=.24), body odor sniffing (r=.20), and body odor disgust (r=.23). Taken together, these findings demonstrate that mental disorder symptoms are associated not only with altered olfactory sensitivity but also changed meta-cognitive aspects of smell perception. The role of altered olfactory meta-cognition in emergence and maintenance of mental disorders awaits further investigation.
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