Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32645143›Full record

ArticleChemical senses2020

Smell-Based Memory Training: Evidence of Olfactory Learning and Transfer to the Visual Domain.

Jonas K Olofsson, Ingrid Ekström, Joanna Lindström, Elmeri Syrjänen, Anna Stigsdotter-Neely, Lars Nyberg, Sara Jonsson, Maria Larsson

Erratum issuedAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Chemical senses, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 19 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
19citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

19 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Olfactory training with Aromastics: olfactory and cognitive effects.European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery · 2022
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  6. Four odorants for olfactory training are enough: a pilot study.European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery · 2024
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  10. Olfactory dysfunction is associated with cognitive impairment in patients with obstructive sleep apnea: a cross-sectional study.European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery · 2022
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Jonas K OlofssonGösta Ekman Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.
Ingrid EkströmGösta Ekman Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.
Joanna LindströmGösta Ekman Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.
Elmeri SyrjänenGösta Ekman Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.
Anna Stigsdotter-NeelyDepartment of Social and Psychological Studies, Karlstad University, Karlstad, Sweden.
Lars NybergUmeå Center for Functional Brain Imaging, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.
Sara JonssonGösta Ekman Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.
Maria LarssonGösta Ekman Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Human and non-human animal research converge to suggest that the sense of smell, olfaction, has a high level of plasticity and is intimately associated with visual-spatial orientation and memory encoding networks. We investigated whether olfactory memory (OM) training would lead to transfer to an untrained visual memory (VM) task, as well as untrained olfactory tasks. We devised a memory intervention to compare transfer effects generated by olfactory and non-olfactory (visual) memory training. Adult participants were randomly assigned to daily memory training for about 40 days with either olfactory or visual tasks that had a similar difficulty level. Results showed that while visual training did not produce transfer to the OM task, olfactory training produced transfer to the untrained VM task. Olfactory training also improved participants' performance on odor discrimination and naming tasks, such that they reached the same performance level as a high-performing group of wine professionals. Our results indicate that the olfactory system is highly responsive to training, and we speculate that the sense of smell may facilitate transfer of learning to other sensory domains. Further research is however needed in order to replicate and extend our findings.

Indexed as

LearningAdolescentAdultFemaleHumansMaleOdorantsPhotic StimulationSensory ThresholdsSmellWineYoung Adultmemoryodorantsolfactory disorderssmellspatial learning

Identifiers

PMID32645143
PMCPMC7545250

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.